D S 

+ 8 



Class 

Book , S (o% 
Copyright^ 70 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




OUR PARTY AT THE SPHINX. 



MY TRIP TO THE ORIENT 




J. C. SIMMONS, D. D. 

OF THE PACIFIC ANNUAL CONFERENCE 




SAN FRANCISCO 
THE WHITAKEK AND RAY COMPANY 
(incorporated) 

1902 



THE LIBRARY Of 

CONGRESS, 
r<«n Copies Received 

i\1 AY , 28 1902 

Copyright entry 
CLASS N CUXXc No. 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1902 
By J. C. Simmons 



DeOication 

TO 

J. R. PEPPER AND WIFE 

OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 

WHOSE TENDER KINDNESS ADDED SO MUCH TO THE 
PLEASURE AND PROFIT OF MY JOURNEYINGS 
IN THE ORIENT 

Jfruit of <&m (Crip 

IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED BY 



THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE. 



Feom early manhood I have had a consuming desire to visit 
classic and Bible lands, but never till in my seventy-fifth year 
did the opportunity offer itself; and from the beginning of my 
journey I have had in mind the relation of what I saw and 
heard for the benefit of my friends and the reading public. 
While in many instances I have used the guide-books that were 
available, I have not leant upon them, except where it was neces- 
sary to get facts and figures. I have tried to see, and to think, 
and to write for myself. With Bible in hand, I have accepted 
nothing, whatever tradition might say, if not substantiated by it. 
I do not claim infallibility for my book, but I have adhered 
strictly to facts, where it was possible to secure these facts. I 
have sought for information from the best sources at hand, and 
from notes taken on the ground I have written while matters 
were fresh in my mind. 

J. C. Simmons. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Leaving Home — Mount Shasta — In Montana— Irrigating Sage- 



brush Land — Mount Rainier — Destruction of Timber — In 
New York — On the Sea 13 

CHAPTER II. 

London — Bunhill Field Cemetery — St. Helen's Church — St. 
Paul's Cathedral — First Sunday in London — Sermons by 



F. B. Myer and Canon H. S. Holland — Hungry Experience 
— British Museum — Rosetta and Moabite Stones — Writing 
on Clay — Objects from Assyria and Nineveh — Mummies — 
London Tower — Ecumenical Conference — Other Things in 
London — Westminster Abbey — Parliament House — St. John's 
Square Methodist Church 23 

CHAPTER III. 

Leaving London — Paris — Rome — Names of the Party — Column 
of Marcus Aurelius — Pantheon — St. Peter's — Pope's Treas- 
ures — Pope's Carriages — Codex Vatican — Picture of the 
Judgment, by Michael Angelo — Making Saints — Ostian Way — 
St. Paul's Church — Column of Trajan — The Colosseum — Tri- 



umphal Arches — Ruins of Basilica and Temples — St. John's 
Church — Scala Sancta — Water-supply — Tasso 46 

CHAPTER IV. 

Naples — Pompeii — Macaroni — Island of Capri — Blue Grotto — 

Beggars — Patras — Milking Goats 64 



CHAPTER V. 

Athens — Museum — Acropolis — Ruins of Temple of Bacchus — 
Temple of ,2Esculapius — Temple of Minerva — The Parthenon 
— Temple of Mysteries — Wine-press — Temple of the Winds — 
King George's Palace — Corinth — St. Paul 73 

9 



10 



Contents. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PAGE 

Constantinople — Dogs — Policemen — Fire Department — Museum — 
Mosque of St. Sophia — Howling Dervishes — The Sultan — 
Smyrna — Grave of Polycarp — Beirut — Baalbek — Abana 
River — A Syrian Wedding 98 



CHAPTER VII. 

Damascus — Plowing and Thrashing — Cesarea Philippi — Sea of 
Galilee — Beths aida — Capernaum — Tiberias — Mount of Beati- 
tudes — Cana of Galilee — Mount Gilboa — Nazareth — Nain — 
Shunem — Carmel — Jezreel^— Naboth's Vineyard — Dothan .... 136 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Samaria — Herod's Palace — Shechem — Samaritans — Gerizim and 
Ebal — Jacob's Well — Jerusalem — Mosque of Omar — Solo- 
mon's Stables — Mount of Olives — Wailing-place of the Jews 

— Subterranean Quarries — The True Calvary and Sepulcher 

— Bethany — Gethsemane 152 



CHAPTER IX. 

Jericho — Fountain of Elisha — Dead Sea — Jordan — Solomon's 
Pools — Joppa — Cairo — The Citadel — The Nile — Pyramids — 
Sphinx — Memphis — Tombs of the Kings and Sacred Bulls — 
Mohammedan University — Heliopolis, or On — Alexandria — 
Pompey's Pillar — Naples — Museum — Image of Diana — Home 165 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Our Paety at the Sphinx Frontispiece. 

Southern Methodist Delegates to the Ecumunical Conference at 

the Tomb of John Wesley 41 

Theater and Temple of Dionysos, or Bacchus, at Athens 75 

The Acropolis, Athens 79 

Mars' Hill, Athens 83 

Corinth 91 

Exterior View of the Mosque of St. Sophia, Constantinople 101 

Interior View of the Mosque of St. Sophia, Constantinople 105 

Another Interior View of the Mosque of St. Sophia, Constantinople 109 

Turkish Cemetery, Constantinople 113 

Whirling Dervishes, Constantinople 117 

The Sultan Going to Prayers on Friday 121 

Tomb of Polycarp, Smyrna, Asia Minor 125 

sollie and the author near shiloh 155 

II 



MY TRIP TO THE ORIENT. 



CHAPTER I. 

Leaving Home — Mount Shasta — In Montana — Irrigating Sage-brush 
Land — Mount Rainier — Destruction of Timber — In New York — 
On the Sea. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIP. 

It seems like a long time since I was notified of my selection 
by the Bishops as a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference of 
Methodism in London. But the time to start at last has come, 
and I am off on my long journey. 

On the evening of August 8, 1901, at seven o'clock, our train 
started. If the many expressed wishes for a pleasant journey 
and a safe return count for anything, you may look for me back 
in due time to tell you of the abiding love and protecting care of 
a loving Heavenly Father. These cordial and heartfelt expres- 
sions, coming from so many, make me love God and his people 
more and better than ever. 

Friends met me at Sacramento, notwithstanding the lateness 
of the hour (eleven, p. m.), with more than a "God bless you," 
for they added to my lunch-basket, and to my purse as well. 
Such friends deserve to be held in everlasting remembrance. 

As often as I have crossed the continent, I have never gone by 
the Northern Pacific, so I concluded to try that route. This 
necessitated a trip entirely through the state of Oregon and about 
one half of Washington to Tacoma. 

The first morning found me above Redding. As we went up 
the Sacramento River, the stream dwindled, until one could wade 
it at almost any point. As we neared Mount Shasta, the growth 
and the scenery began to change. Tall pines, in their excurrent 
growth, shot their spire-shaped tops high up into the heavens, 
while feathery ferns decorated the moist earth at their feet. Old 

13 



14 



My Trip to the Orient. 



Shasta sent his melting snows, by underground passages, down 
until they reached the bluff above the river, when they leaped out 
in clear, gushing springs that would almost slake the thirst by 
looking at them. 

When we reached Shasta Springs, a brakeman announced, 
"Four minutes at the spring." The hundreds of passengers 
rushed out, many with cups in hand, and such crowding and dip- 
ping and drinking one does n't often see. The water is ice-cold, 
and so heavily surcharged with carbonic-acid gas, that it flies, 
sparkling, into the face, and bites the tongue with the most 
pleasureable sensation. My ! but it was refreshing and delight- 
ful. I felt that it would have been far more satisfactory to have 
stayed at the spring four hours instead of four minutes. Then 
one could have prolonged the pleasure of drinking, instead of 
gulping down a whole pint, as some of us did, at a draft. For 
several minutes after returning to the car my stomach imitated 
the spring in sending up volumes of gas. 

But old Shasta — the pride and glory of California — who can 
describe? He does not seem to lift his head over fourteen thou- 
sand feet, but in massive grandeur he stands sovereign of the vast 
range of the Sierra Nevadas, that stretch in towering splendor 
for a thousand miles, like an empire, at his feet. He needs no 
scepter, no crown, to proclaim him monarch, of the range. He 
was born a king, and there is none to dispute his claim to the 
royal line. On his broad bosom have beat the battle-storms of a 
thousand years and left no scar, neither have they shaken one 
pillar of his throne. So massive is his form, that the tempest's 
battle-shock on one side is not felt on the other. The very artil- 
lery of heaven, that works such havoc on lesser things, may hurl 
their heaviest shots, unfelt, on his bosom or his brow. Winter 
may pile the snows of a thousand storms on his head, and they 
will lie as lightly as a veil on the brow of a bride. Clouds, riding 
on the wings of wind, may stride his giant sides, but he will stand 
like a rock in the sea, and when the clouds clear away he looks 
as calm and placid as a sleeping giant. 

One forms the grandest conception of the creative power of God 
when standing, like a speck, under the shadow of such a moun- 
tain. Mountains play an important part in both the Old and 
the New Testament history. They were God's favorite meeting- 
places with men. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



15 



IN MONTANA. 

I formed a number of very pleasant acquaintances on the train. 
Some of them gave me a cordial invitation to visit them should 
I ever come to Portland. It is better to have friends than it is to 
have money. I called on some during the six hours I had to lay 
over in Portland. Beside the delights of association, they gave 
me a good dinner and replenished my basket with fruits and other 
things. 

I was perfectly delighted with the cars and the service of the 
Northern Pacific railway. The tourist-car was almost like a 
Pullman, except the seats are covered with nice leather instead of 
plush. The beds were about as good, and everything was done 
up in style. 

This route, striking east from Spokane, in Washington, sweeps 
through Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota to St. Paul. 
It passes over a vast area of desert land, — land that seems unfit 
for anything, much of it mountainous, rocky, and barren. But 
it is wonderful what water will do for the desert. 

There are two counties in Washington, of which Pasco is the 
center, that, a few years ago, were covered with sage-brush. But 
enterprising men planned an irrigation system, and brought in 
water that had been running to waste for years, and now I am 
told that these two counties produce one fiftieth of the wheat 
grown in the United States. 

While I write this, in eastern Montana we are passing hundreds 
of thousands of acres of such looking sage-brush land, and we are 
running down a river with water enough in it to supply the greater 
portion of it. Soon after turning east we passed in sight of 
Mount Rainier. It loomed up in solitary grandeur as one of the 
great ones of the earth. It was clothed in snow, seemingly, to its 
base. The lower strata of air was so filled with smoke as to 
obscure not only its base, but all the surrounding mountains; not 
one could be seen. And yet, there it stood in solitary grandeur, 
wrapped in its spotless robe of snow, as if chilled by its own 
isolation. The setting sun was at our back, flaming on its bleak 
side, making it glow as with a warmth it could not feel. It bathed 
it with light as with a garment. It softened its asperities, and 
gave to it additional charms. It was wonderful how long the 



16 



My Trip to the Orient. 



sunlight hung upon its summit and dallied with its brow. Long 
after it had left the vale and mountains below to shadows and 
darkness, old Rainier stood out in the gloom like a vast pile of 
phosphorus, as if it would light the world when the sun had gone 
down. All the ten minutes we were at Tacoma we gazed upon 
its glowing form, and when our train bore us away, plunging 
into the night, this mighty mountain still stood, in ghostly gran- 
deur, glowing against the evening sky. It is 14,526 feet high. 

Sunday found us in Idaho, but as that state is very narrow 
where we cross it, it was not long until we were in Montana. 

All day Sunday and all day Monday we spent in crossing this 
^reat state. Our car was full, but it was not a great while until 
the majority of us knew each other, and we enjoyed ourselves all 
the more for it. 

We had no service in the car, although there were a number of 
Epworth Leaguers on the train. I suggested it to one or two, 
and they thought it a good idea. But I would not press the 
matter, for fear they would think I was anxious to preach. It is 
true, there was another preacher on board, but he was a young 
man just out of college. By the way, he was at Yosemite last 
Sunday, and told me that he put in a full day sightseeing, — 
even climbed to the top of Yosemite Falls. How men do borrow 
from God to save time! No doubt but that we are tested by just 
such trials as this; and how easy it is for us to persuade ourselves 
that in communing with nature we are serving God, when God 
knows we are doing it alone to gratify our own carnal desires. 

It is a mighty nice thing to be an every-day, consistent Chris- 
tian. I have talked with two men on the train about their re- 
ligious life, and both of them were stumbling over the inconsis- 
tent lives of professing Christians. I tried to show them that they 
were responsible for their own conduct, and not for the faults of 
others. 

I put in some of the Sabbath in reading the entire Epistle to 
the Romans, and in meditating over its wonderful revelations and 
arguments. To my mind, it is the greatest of all of Paul's writings, 
if not the greatest single book in the Bible. He lays deep and 
broad his foundations, and then lays up every stone with care 
and precision, and when the whole is done, he hangs up, within 
its halls, the pictures of many of his friends, suffering Tirtius, his 
amanuensis, to put on the last embellishing touch. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



17 



FARTHER EAST. 

As we swept down the Yellowstone River, I saw a turtle sunning 
himself upon a rock. It has been many a long day since I saw 
one, but I knew him as soon as I laid eyes on him. It is 
hard to forget our boyhood friends. 

I realize that I am in the land of cyclones, for I see the cyclone- 
holes, or dugouts, as I pass. When they see a storm arising, 
like the squirrels they go for their holes. Who can blame them? 

When we reached Missoula, Montana, I stepped out on the 
platform. I saw a clerical-looking gentleman whose face looked 
familiar, but when I spoke to him I saw my mistake. He asked 
my name. I told him " Simmons." £t What ! is this J. C. Simmons 
of the South Church, in California? " I told him I was. He said 
he never saw me before, but had seen my picture in the California 
Advocate, and had heard of me for years, and wanted to see me. 
He said his name was Rawlins. Their Conference was then in 
session in that place, Bishop Fowler presiding. He said the 
Bishop preached one of his grandest sermons that morning. He 
spoke of Bishop Duncan, and of our Conference that was soon to 
convene. 

Our train ran for hours on the borders of a lake called Pend 
d'Oreille. It is a French name, and means " lobe of the ear." 
We ran up Clark's Fork till late in the day. This indicated that 
we were still on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, as the 
streams flow toward the Pacific. As we climb the Rockies, the 
flora changes. Little pines predominate. But it is wonderful 
how many of these pines have been killed by forest fires. Mil- 
lions of them stand on the mountain sides, dead, and I could see 
no new shoots coming up to take their places. 

When speaking of Shasta I did intend to tell of the sad destruc- 
tion of all the timber round about the mountain. — mills, mills, 
everywhere, ripping and sawing into lumber every tree large 
enough. The stumps stand like gravestones in this cemetery of 
slain forests. Have the trees no friends? Will no hand arrest 
the ringing, swinging ax in its ruthless work? When too late, 
California will wake to her folly. 

I met a gentleman between St. Paul and Chicago, who told me 
that they had stripped the forests of Minnesota and Wisconsin, 



18 



My Trip to the Orient. 



that were thought to be inexhaustible, of nearly all the good tim- 
ber. He gave a large order to a lumberman not long since, and 
when it was filled he complained of the inferior quality of the 
lumber, when, to his astonishment, he was told that the supply 
of good lumber was exhausted. 

I saw carload after carload of logs on the way to the mills to be 
sawed into lumber, that were only a little larger than telegraph 
poles. 

Tuesday night we had on board of our train United States 
Senator Carter of Montana, who is credited with having made the 
longest speech ever made in the United States, — thirteen hours 
and twenty minutes. It was no mere windy talk against time, 
but it was a giant effort against a money-stealing harbor appro- 
priation bill for fifty million dollars. He looked up the whole 
thing, posting himself on the depth and capacity of all the harbors 
for which appropriations were sought, and when he charged down 
on the thieving cohorts, he walked the deck of his ship like 
Dewey at Manila, without an enemy in sight. 

Is n't it a humiliating fact that there are men wearing the toga 
of the United States who ought to be wearing the stripes of the 
state prison, among other thieves? 

Minneapolis and St. Paul are two great inland cities, only 
eleven miles apart. They both seem to be in a thriving condition. 

We reached Chicago at seven, a. m., Wednesday, and left for 
New York at ten; so we saw nothing of this great city. 

We had a little thunder-shower the evening before reaching 
Chicago. I could see the lightning playing in the cloud, although 
it was either too distant or the cars made too much noise for us 
to hear the thunder. 

As we passed through portions of Indiana, we saw a great num- 
ber of towers or derricks (I am not posted on oil nomenclature) 
for boring for oil. They were all new, so the oil fever must be of 
recent date in these parts. I counted more than a dozen in sight 
at one time from the car window, and once or twice I caught the 
scent of oil, — so somebody has struck it. 

When we got over into Pennsylvania we had a fine rain. And 
now, as I write, we are rapidly nearing New York, the end of my 
journey by land. We shall see what we shall see when we get to 
sea. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



L9 



ON THE SEA. 

I have but little to say of New York, for I was there but a little 
over a day, and much of the time was taken up with business. I 
called at the Christian Advocate office. Dr. Buckley, to my re- 
gret, was not in, but his assistant, Brother Herben, met me with 
a cordiality that was most gratifying. He said he knew me by 
reputation, and was anxious to meet me. He furnished me with 
all the late Southern papers, and I had a feast looking through 
them. 

In the afternoon I went to Central Park, and came back on an 
automobile. It was run by electricity, and I had a most delight- 
ful ride. There is a great number of automobiles in the city. I 
counted thirteen in the space of a few blocks. Some were very 
fine; others struck me as clumsy. I visited General Grant's tomb. 
It is a much plainer structure than I expected to see. It is, how- 
ever, massive and beautiful. It is built square, with huge columns 
on all its sides; the whole is surmounted with a dome. The 
whole structure is 150 feet high, and perhaps 100 feet square. It 
is made of white granite, and is entered on one side. In the cen- 
ter is a circular opening, perhaps twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, 
and on the floor beneath rest two sarcophagi, — one containing 
the remains of General Grant, the other those of his wife. The 
location is a most picturesque one. It is on a hill overlooking 
the Hudson River. 

In the evening I was greatly pleased at meeting a nephew from 
Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

On Saturday morning, at nine o'clock, I went on board the 
steamer Menominee, which was to be my home for ten or twelve 
days. It is an immense ship of ten thousand tons, and is, by long 
odds, the steadiest ship I was ever on. The captain said it was 
the steadiest ship on the Atlantic. It is true, we have had a re- 
markably calm time, but there has not been a single case of sea- 
sickness among the 83 passengers, and this is the third day. We 
had hardly cast off our lines, before a gentleman came up to me 
and said, " Did I not hear you give a speech of welcome to the 
Epworth League Convention in San Francisco?" He said he was 
on the platform, and thought I was the man. It was the Rev. 
C. M. Giffin, D. D., of Scranton, Pennsylvania, a delegate to the 



20 



My Trip to the Orient. 



Ecumenical Conference. I was truly glad to have company. I 
soon found another delegate from Minnesota, and a lay delegate 
from Pennsylvania. This made it very pleasant for me. 

The large body of our passengers are English, but, take them 
all in all, they are as pleasant a lot of passengers as one will see 
anywhere. Sunday morning we had Episcopal service, conducted 
b} 7 the captain. He came to me in the afternoon and apologized 
for not calling upon me. He said they were required to conduct 
the Episcopal service every Sabbath morning, but that if either 
of the ministers desired to preach in the evening, he would be 
very glad to have him do so. But none of us had on "our sea- 
legs," and we were almost afraid to undertake it.' It rained all 
Sunda} 7 afternoon. In the evening the young people assembled 
in the parlor and spent several hours in singing. We found that 
we had several fine performers on the piano, and some excellent 
singers. 

Monday dawned bright and beautiful. We found, by consult- 
ing the "log," that we were running over three hundred miles a 
day. 

The young people have several games on board, — one called 
"shuffleboard," where little round boards six inches in diameter 
are shot across the deck by punching them with cues. They en- 
joy it, and I enjoy looking at them. 

I am very fortunate in my location at the table. Dr. Giffin, 
Brother Shepherd, the lay delegate, a Scotch ex-member of Parlia- 
ment, and another very intelligent, well-traveled Scotchman, and 
I sit next the captain of the ship. 

We discuss matters while eating, and hardly ever leave the 
table for from a half an hour to an hour after we are through eat- 
ing. We talk navigation, science, politics, religion, etc., often in- 
terspersing our talks with jokes and anecdotes. My California 
experiences always secure me a respectful and interested hear- 
ing. 

INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 

The monotony of ocean travel can be appreciated only by one 
shut up in a ship with not a speck of land, or bird, or fish, or ship 
visible for days. I was disappointed in the fact that we saw so 
few ships, and as to animal life, we saw a few porpoises, a few 



My Trip to the Orient. 



21 



flying-fish, and now and then a stormy petrel, — that was all. 
But the passengers made it lively on board. We had several 
very fine musicians with us, and day and night the piano was 
going. We had quartets, solos, and choruses, and much of the 
singing and instrumental music was of a high order. 

One night the captain had a nice cake baked, — placed in it a 
ring, a thimble, and a penny, — and we had, I suppose, a regular 
"cake-walk." As I never saw one before, I am not a judge of its 
regularity. It was very funny, and afforded much amusement. 

On Sunday everything took on a Sunday air. All sports and 
games were avoided. At 10:30, the captain, as on the previous 
Sabbath, read the Episcopal service, and the most respectful and 
reverent attention was observed by all. In the evening I was se- 
lected to preach. Drs. Giffin and Stafford assisted in the prelimi- 
nary service. The young people led in the service of song. One of 
the young men, who was a very fine musician, composed an an- 
them on the Lord's Prayer, especially for the occasion. It was 
sung with spirit, and I thought it very beautiful. I have the 
promise of a copy. 

The ship was rolling as much as at any time during the voyage, 
and I maneuvered around considerably during the delivery of my 
sermon. All understood why I staggered around so, and gave me 
the most marked attention. I tried to drop some seed for my 
Master, and did not preach merely to entertain the company or 
pass away the time. I felt that I had a message, and I delivered 
it in the name of my Lord. 

I told them that the evening before they had gotten up their 
entertainment just for enjoyment, but now we had met for a dif- 
ferent purpose, — met to talk about our eternal interests. I think 
the service was not without profit. A number came to me after- 
ward, not only to thank me for the sermon, but to tell me how 
much good it had done them. 

Monday night the young people got up a "breach of promise" 
case, and organizing a court, they took up the whole evening in 
trying it. The jury was composed of both men and women, and 
the court and lawyers, in addressing, had to abandon the stereo- 
typed form of "gentlemen of the jury," and had to say "ladies 
and gentlemen of the jury." The verdict was for the plaintiff, 
giving her the sum of "three cents, annually, for ninety-nine 
years, and one day over." 



22 



My Trip to the Orient. 



The last evening on board was spent in auctioning off some 
sketches made on the voyage, — for we had two very fine artists 
on board, who expect to make their fortunes on the Continent by 
selling their pictures, — and in recitations, anecdotes, and song. 
I told them my celebrated Yosemite bear story, whose relation is 
so blood-curdling, and whose denouement is so gratifying. The 
money realized from the sale of the pictures is to go for the bene- 
fit of the widows and orphans of sailors. It amounted to "three 
pounds one and sixpence," — we use English money over here. 

From the time we entered the channel to landing at the dock, 
we saw no more of the captain. Grave responsibilities rested on 
him, and he was upon the bridge day and night, even taking his 
meals there. 

What a lesson we ministers of Jesus Christ could learn from 
this. We have a responsibility graver than his committed to our 
hands. The very lives, not for time, but for eternity, of our people 
are in our keeping, and there is danger of wreck, even at the en- 
trance of the harbor. We reached our dock in a few hours over 
eleven days. 

On landing at London, Dr. Giffin, who had visited it a number 
of times before, and was familiar with the city, was of great as- 
sistance to me. We came to the Hotel Russell, a very nice place, 
where we will remain until the opening of the Conference, when 
homes will be assigned us. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



23 



CHAPTER II. 

London — Bunhill Field Cemetery — St. Helen's Church — St. Paul's 
Cathedral — First Sunday in London — Sermons by F. B. Myer 
and Canon H. S. Holland — Hungry Experience — British Museum 
— rosetta and m oa bite stones — writing on clay — objects from 
Assyria and Nineveh — Mummies — London Tower — Ecumenical 
Conference — Other Things in London — Westminster Abbey — Par- 
liament House — St. John's Square Methodist Church. 

LONDON. 

One day has passed, — a day so crowded with new sights of the 
old, that I hardly know what to say or how to say it. 

Our ship landed us on the banks of the Thames River, far be- 
low the city, and we took a train with cars with compartments, 
and doors along the side. The seats extended the full width of 
the car, one facing the other, so that, if the section were full, half 
the passengers would have to ride backwards. 

As we entered the city we came to long rows of houses built 
just alike, made of brick, and covered either with tile or slate. 
Look which way you will, and you never see a straight street. As 
it is in the suburbs, so is it in the heart of the city, only more so. 
And wherever a bend in the street comes, there usually comes 
another name for it. Sometimes you come to a point where five 
or six streets come together. This is called a "circus." I had a 
letter of introduction to a firm in Ludgate Circus. Then many 
of these fractions of streets are called roads, as City Road. I sup- 
pose they have never been changed since they were accidentally 
formed and named by the Romans in the days of the Caesars. 
They were roads then running through the country, or through 
the village. A tree was pointed out to me, right in the heart of 
the city, that some old lord had incorporated in the deed that it 
is never to be removed so long as it lives. Were a house built 
where it stands, it would rent for over one thousand dollars a 
year, and yet, there it stands and grows, and from the looks of it, 
it will outlive many a generation yet. Were it in San Francisco 



24 



My Trip to the Orient. 



or New York, I think its days would soon be numbered, either by 
some process of law or some act of lawlessness. 

The streets are narrow, as well as crooked; and how the busi- 
ness of so great a city is conducted is a marvel. These streets 
are wonderfully smooth. They seem to be made of a combination 
of cement and asphaltum. 

They have few street-cars, but instead have two-story buses — 
multiplied thousands of them. They drive up to the sidewalk, 
and you enter, go into the inside, or by a winding stair climb to 
the top, which will hold perhaps twenty or twenty-five persons. 
You can form an idea of the smoothness of the streets when I tell 
you that yesterday a very large and fleshy lady, weighing much 
more than two hundred, if I am a good judge of size and weight, 
climbed up to the top, just ahead of me, and comfortably filled a 
seat intended for two. From the top of the bus you have a fine 
point of observation, — can see all the houses, and the thousands 
of vehicles that fill the streets. All the buses, carriages, wagons, 
etc., have to keep to the left, instead of the right, as with us. 

I was under the shadow of the celebrated Bow Church, but did 
not have time to go in it. I heard its chime of bells. It is said 
that every child born within sound of its bells is a true Cockney. 
They are born in London proper; none others. 

Among the first things I did was to report my arrival at City 
Road Chapel, to John Bond, secretary. I was most cordially re- 
ceived, and given all necessary information. While in that part 
of the city, we stepped across the street and into the cemetery, 
where lie the remains of Susannah Wesley, the mother of John 
and Charles Wesley. I reverently took off my hat as I stood 
above the dust of this woman, greater than if she were the mother 
of kings and emperors; for it was her methodical hand and prac- 
tical mind that trained the greatest reformer and leader in ecclesi- 
astical history, — a man, the influence of whose teachings has ex- 
posed errors in theology hoary with age, intrenched within what 
was regarded as impenetrable walls and defended by the combined 
churches of the world, — a man, the influence of whose teachings 
has leavened all doctrines of Christendom. Not only this, but 
she was the mother of a son who took the doctrines taught by 
his illustrious brother and wove them into poetry and song, that 
they might be fixed in the minds and hearts of the masses for- 
ever. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



25 



A plain, molclering, crumbling slab of white marble, not distin- 
guished from the hundreds that stand about it, marks the grave 
in which she lies. As I stood and deciphered the moss-covered 
inscription that tells who and what she was, I felt that here in 
this silent city of the dead was not the place to look for her memo- 
rial, or to read of her virtues and her fame, but every one of the 
holy lives of the multiplied millions of Methodists of the world 
turned a ray of light on her tomb and made it glow with un- 
dimmed splendor. This is one of the most wonderful cemeteries 
in London. During the great London plague, that marks one of 
the most appalling chapters in the history of any city, one hun- 
dred thousand victims of that plague were dumped into this Cen- 
tral graveyard. Above these masses of the dead, the present 
cemetery stands. 

Here rest the remains of Daniel De Foe, the author of that book 
of books for boys, " Robinson Crusoe." Who has not read it, and 
been charmed by the graphic descriptions of the lonely ship- 
wrecked sailor and his man Friday? His tomb tells us he Avas 
born in 1661 and that he died in 1731. 

In this cemetery lie the remains of the great hymn-writer, 
Isaac Watts. How his hymns for children have helped the young 
to grasp the thoughts of God, and give expression to feelings of 
devotion ! As I laid my hand on the stone that covers his lifeless 
clay, I felt that his hymns would long outlast the marble that 
loving hands had placed above him. 

Not far from Mrs. Wesley's grave is that of John Bunyan, au- 
thor of "Pilgrims' Progress." He died in his sixtieth year. His 
tomb is somewhat peculiar. It is of marble; on the top is chiseled 
a prone figure to represent the dreamer; on one side, in bas-relief, 
is the pilgrim, with his burden on his back, at the open grave, 
where he lost his burden forever. On the other side we find him 
at the cross. 

Here, also, is the grave of Richard Cromwell, a son of Oliver 
Cromwell, the latter one of the most noted men in English his- 
tory. I had pointed out to me a small park, where tradition 
tells that the body of Oliver Cromwell is buried; though this is 
disputed, as almost all traditions are. 

I could not but copy the unique inscription plainly chiseled on 
an old tomb. On one side is the following: — 



26 



My Trip to the Orient. 



"Here lyes Dame Mary Page, relict of Sir Gregory Page, Bar't. 
She departed this life March 11, 1738, in the 56th year of her 

.age." 

On the opposite side is this: — 

"In 67 months she was tap't 66 times. Had taken away 240 
gallons of water without ever repining at her case, or even fear- 
ing the opperation." 

She had a watery life, if she did n't have a watery grave. 

If I should have the time to go through this cemetery again, I 
may find other things to write about. • 

I went into Crosby Hall, built in the time of Richard III, in 
1466. Of course, it is not as it was when first built. It stands 
upon the same ground, and a few fragments of the old hall have 
been worked into the modernized structure. 

Rev. Dr. C. M. Giffin of Scranton, Pennsylvania, who crossed 
the ocean with me, has been a great help to me in more ways 
than I can tell. He is familiar with London and London ways, 
and steers me clear in many a channel, and can point out almost 
everything of interest. He took me through the Bank of England, 
not one of, but the greatest monetary institution in the world. It 
occupies a plain solid-looking building in the business heart of 
London. There is not a window opening to the outside world. 
Where there are window-frames, the} T are closed with solid ma- 
sonry. The inside is illuminated by skylights. There is no 
bustle and noise among the officers and attaches of the bank, but 
everything moves like clockwork. 

The first church I visited was St. Helen's, in Bishopsgate, the 
next oldest church in London. The walls are built in Scotch 
•style, of rough stones and dark mortar, but they are built to last. 
This church was founded in 1216. It was then a Roman Catholic 
church with a monastery attached. It has been largely rebuilt 
and restored. It is now a high church. The ceiling is in the 
oldest style of architecture. It has two aisles separated by arches. 
In one corner of the building is a little chapel, where any one, 
during the day, can go and pray and meditate. I found several 
in there thus engaged. The floor is a very graveyard. You walk 
over the dead at every step. Stones with the name and epitaph 
of the dead are let in, and form part of the floor. Some of the 
tombs are like great monuments, rising several feet from the floor. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



27 



Upon these, chiseled in marble, lie the life-size figures of a man 
clad in mail and a woman by his side. In one place in the wall, 
as high as a man's head, lie the figure of a man clad in full armor, 
as a knight, with his sword by his side, and by him the figure of 
his wife. At their feet stands a small woman with clasped hands 
before an open book. She has wide hoop-skirts, swelling out 
laterally from the waist, with a frill all around the top of the skirt, 
as if she were set in a bell-shaped tub. The inscription is in old 
Latin. 

One is "To the memory of John Bathurst Dean, M. A., First 
Rector of the United Parishes of St. Martin, Ontwich, with 
St. Helen, 1873 to 1887; born 1797, died 1887." 

As Dr. Gifnn and I wandered around the streets we saw a 
crowd gathered about an old church door, and, joining them, we 
saw a bridal party coming out. The bride was dressed in cream- 
colored satin, with a trail about two yards long, and a little boy 
and girl, richly dressed, but with stockings barely peeping out of 
their shoe-tops, exposing their bare legs, carrying this immense 
trail. All the party had Jewish faces, and I was told that very 
many Jews attach themselves to the Church of England. 

On Holborn Street stands the only building built in the Eliza- 
bethan period, and in the style of architecture of that time. It 
stands on a very populous street, and looks almost ready to fall; 
but the Londoners loath to see this last relic of the past taken 
away. Old things are treasured, but old things must yield to the 
inevitable. 

Yesterday I visited St. Paul's Cathedral, the grandest structure 
in London. In all these letters I am trying to " fight shy" of the 
guide-books, and tell you of things as I see them; but for certain 
facts it is necessary for me to refer to the book. We are told that 
this is the third church erected on this site bearing this name. 
The first was built in 610. It was burned in 1087, lasting a 
period of 477 years. Soon after its destruction it was rebuilt on 
a grander scale. This second building lasted till the great fire 
in 1666, when it went down in the general wreck. For eight 
years it lay in ruins. The corner-stone of the present building 
was laid by the Masonic Fraternity, June 21, 1675. The mallet 
and trowel used on that occasion are still preserved in one of the 
lodges. Sir Christopher Wren was the architect of this building. 



28 



My Trip to the Orient. 



As I stood under the great dome and looked in every direction, 
trying to take in the details of this massive structure, I could not 
but ask myself the question, How was it possible for any one mind 
to conceive all this before one stone was laid upon another? But 
here it stands, 370 feet to the top of the cross. Its length is 550 feet, 
and its width, 125 feet. It is in the form of a Latin cross. Look 
which way you will, the proportions are perfect. There is har- 
mony, and yet variety. I slowly wandered all over it, wondering, 
wondering, at its massiveness and its details. The whole struck 
me as a church built with a Catholic ideal. There is an immense 
altar of white marble most beautifully carved and in perfect har- 
mony of proportions, while before it stand wax candles four or 
five feet long, six inches in circumference, mounted upon candle- 
sticks twenty feet high. There are other candles of smaller di- 
mensions, ranged round about the altar. I noticed some of these 
burning during service. The stained-glass windows are of ex- 
quisite beauty, all representing Scripture subjects. Statues are 
in niches in the walls on every hand, and all are of superior 
workmanship. I could write page after page, and not exhaust 
the subject. 

Since writing my last I have passed a Sabbath, and my experi- 
ence has been unique. 

I rent a room in the Hotel Russell, and take my meals at res- 
taurants as I want them, and on Sunday as I can get them. 

I knew nothing of the customs here on the Sabbath. On Sun- 
day morning, Dr. Girnn and I started out about nine o'clock to 
get our breakfast. The Doctor said, ik I have my doubts about 
our getting anything, for everything is closed up on Sunday until 
after service." We tramped through street after street. Not an 
eating-house was open. At last the Doctor said, " Maybe we can 
get a bite at the restaurant at the railroad station." We went 
there, and at the door was an officer to see that none but hungry 
travelers should pass in. We told him we were Americans, just 
in the country, and without more ado we pushed by him, and all 
that we could get was a small loaf of bread with butter, and a cup 
of tea for the Doctor and a glass of milk for me. In the strength 
of this morsel of bread and glass of milk I had to go all day. 

We went to Christ Church to hear F. B. Myer preach. On our 
way we met three of our preachers that had just landed, — Brother 



My Trip to the Orient. 



29 



iselms of Texas, and Brothers Johnson and Thomas of Arkansas. 
They joined our company. As we passed Spurgeon's Tabernacle 
-we stepped in to see it. It has two galleries all round the church, 
one above the other. The pulpit is on a level with the lower 
gallery. 

They read and sung the Episcopal service at Dr. flyer's church, 
although it is a Congregational church. He gave us a most ex- 
cellent sermon, remarkable for its simplicity and earnestness. 
He insisted on genuine conversion, or change of heart. 

After a half-hour's rest we went to a three-o'clock service at 
St. Paul's. As we approached the Cathedral the bells were chim- 
ing most musically, and they kept it up for twenty minutes. By 
the hour for service, that mighty building was full. The seats 
are rude rush-bottom chairs of the plainest sort, fastened together 
in long rows. While the vast body of the congregation was 
English, I saw Hindoos, Chinese, and negroes. The service was 
very elaborate, the ritual alone consuming an hour. They had 
a choir composed mainly of boys dressed in white robes with 
black velvet collars. There were some men and some women in 
the choir. I had no means of estimating the number, but there 
were more than a hundred, and the organ was superior to 
any one I ever heard. Sometimes the heavier bass notes sounded 
like thunder, and fairly made the building tremble. The echo, 
or rather echoes, of the building are marvelous. Every note is 
repeated from all parts of the building. Every arch seems to 
fling back its own echo, and when the preacher raised his voice, 
which he often did. the echoes were almost confusing. Canon 
H. S. Holland was the preacher on this occasion. While he evi- 
dently had his manuscript before him. he but seldom looked at 
it. He preached with great unction and power, and so powerful 
was his voice that I have no doubt every one in that vast audience 
heard him distinctly. 

He was preaching on faith, taking for his text the withering of 
the barren fig tree. He showed what evils could be removed by 
faith, and, among other things, spoke of the Boer war, greatly 
deprecated it, and said it ought to be stopped. I was hardly 
prepared for such an expression of sentiment in such high places. 
Dr. Myer in the morning prayed for the removal of this terrible 
war. I rind the British here at home are greatly divided on this 
question. 



30 



My Trip to the Orient. 



After the service, feeling quite hungry, I went confidently for 
a restaurant; but they were all still closed. What was I to do? 
That glass of milk and one little piece of bread could hardly com- 
fort me till nine o'clock next day. — the earliest hour at which 
one can get breakfast at a restaurant. You remember God sent 
the ravens to feed Elijah. Could I expect such deliverance? I 
accosted a man on the street and asked, " Are there no restaurants 
open?" Just as he said, "Not one," I felt a tap on the shoulder, 
and turning round, Mr. Waters, a young ship acquaintance, said, 
•'Doctor, are you looking for a restaurant? They are all closed. 
Come, go with me to my hotel and take supper with me." The 
raven had come, and I got my supper. I took my young friend 
with me to a Methodist church that night. There we met Bishop 
Galloway, who, I found after service, was as hungry as I had been 
a little while before. You see. our entertainment does not begin 
until the day before the Conference opens; hence we have to take 
care of ourselves, which we found to be a hard thing to do on 
Sunday. 

BRITISH MUSEUM. 

I spent four hours slowly wandering among the wonders and 
treasures of this place. It is too much to attempt to describe, 
It is a very treasure-house of wonders and curiosities. When I 
entered the archaeological departments I was enchained, and 
spent so much of my time there that I had but little left for other 
things and other departments. 

The archaeological wealth of the buried cities of the East is 
gathered and treasured here. I felt assured that I was looking 
upon things that Jonah saw in Nineveh; that Daniel saw in 
Babylon; that Jacob and Joseph saw in Egypt. Covered over 
for thousands of years, they were kept undisturbed until God's 
good time arrived for their unearthing; and now this mightiest 
and wealthiest of empires has laid them up and labeled them for 
the pleasure and profit of His people. Here are things that set 
the seal of truth upon Scripture revelation and history. Every 
fact speaks for God and his truth. These revelations have given 
a voice to stones and clay, that should make glad the heart of 
Christendom. While unbelievers carp and quibble, God reigns; 
and when the time comes, he will overthrow all his enemies with 



My Trip to the Orient. 



31 



the breath of his mouth. First in importance and chief in in- 
terest came the Rosetta Stone. This stone was dug up from the 
ruins of an old fort near one of the mouths of the Nile — the 
Rosetta mouth — hence the name — in 1799. It was placed in 
the British Museum, where I saw it in 1901. Portions of it are 
broken off, but enough remains to form the key with which to 
unlock the Egyptian hieroglyphics. The stone is what is known 
as basalt, just such stone as our paving-blocks are made of. The 
lettering is very distinct, and is beautifully done. The man who 
chiseled it was evidently a writer for the king, and was one of the 
best. While the document is the same, yet the inscription is in 
three distinct writings, the top being in Egyptian hieroglyphics, 
the style of the priests; the second is in the domestic, or writing 
of the people; and the last is in Greek. From the proper names 
and their position in the several inscriptions it was found that 
the subject-matter in all three was the same. Not only so, but 
these proper names unlocked the mystery and the meaning of the 
hieroglyphics. Since then men learned in the art can read either 
the hieroglyphics or the writing of the common people. I could 
but feel a thrill of pleasurable excitement as I stood and gazed 
upon this stone, that had lain in the British Museum for one hun- 
dred years and in the sands of the Nile many hundreds of years, 
and now linking the languages of the past with the present, sing- 
ing the cradle-song of literature and with the same voice sounding 
the highest notes of victory for the God of all. 

" God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in 
time past unto the fathers by the prophets," is now confirming 
his declarations to us by unearthing these treasures of the dust. 
Thousands of discoveries have been made, and while hundreds of 
them have confirmed the truth of Scriptures, not one iota has 
been against them. It was worth my trip to London to see this 
wonderful stone. In another part of the building I saw a cast of 
the Moabite Stone. The original is in France. This stone was 
found in the land of Moab in 1868. It was made about 890 years 
before Christ, and records the victory of the Moabites over Ahab, 
king of Israel. 

The trouble I find in writing of this Museum is, that there is 
so much, that I hardly know what to select; but I was impressed 
with the vast number of inscriptions on cylinders, tablets, bricks, 



32 



My Trip to the Orient. 



and other forms of clay. It is remarkable a material should be 
selected, that, while abundant, was indestructible by the elements. 
Think of writing on any material now used — paper, parchment, or 
even metal itself — lying buried in soil soaked with the rains of 
thousands of years, that may be subject to fires, as well as floods, 
and coming out as clear and distinct as when first written. Clay, 
when prepared and burned, becomes this indestructible material. 
It becomes fixed. It can no more be reduced either by fire, air, or 
water to its original soft and pliant state. These people of olden 
time were not slow to discover this fact; and while at first they 
may have selected this material to make immortal the deeds of 
their kings and great men, the common people could use it on all 
other occasions and for all other purposes. Kings, in building, 
had inscribed the fact of their reign on all the bricks used in their 
buildings; and here are great numbers of these bricks with the 
stamps of kings who reigned from three thousand to four thou- 
sand years ago. 

Sometimes the most ingenious shapes were given to these clay 
records. They even made envelopes of clay, in which to send 
messages and letters. I saw great numbers of these, some of them 
about the size and shape of a lady's portemonnaie, and the letter 
inclosed just the shape of the little cocoanut cakes we buy in the 
shops. I suppose things were not done in such a rush as now- 
adays. Think of a young man, Avhen desiring to communicate 
with his beloved, mixing a lot of clay, writing his messages on it, 
taking another batch, inscribing her name and address, laying 
them out in the sun to dry, then putting them in a kiln to bake 
before sending ! I saw deeds conveying lands, and records con- 
cerning the sale of sheep and cows. 

Then there were tablets ten by three inches, half an inch thick, 
with a list of wearing- apparel, etc., with a number of small holes 
after each article. I suppose the careful housewife, when she sent 
out her washing, stuck little sticks or pins in these holes to keep 
a record of how many of each article were sent out. 

But one thing interested me very much, and that was part of a 
baked-clay cylinder inscribed in Babylonian characters, giving 
an account of the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, B. C. 539. 

Then there were several of these cylinders ten inches long, made 
in the exact shape of a keg, with the hoops, four in number, rep- 



My Trip to the Orient. 



33 



resented in the clay. These were written all over, except the 
hoops. There were also slabs of clay about the size and shape 
of a common slate, covered with inscriptions. 

I could have spent days, instead of hours, looking over these 
archaeological records of the long ago. I have much more to say 
concerning the things seen, if I can find the time. 

BRITISH MUSEUM." — ■ (Continued.) 

A very interesting figure is that of an Assyrian winged man- 
headed lion of great size. It once stood at the door of the palace 
of the king of Assyria. There was also a winged man-headed bull 
of the same dimensions, taken from the same ruins. 

Among other things is a column perhaps twenty feet high and 
three feet in diameter, carved all over with hieroglyphics, brought 
from Egypt. It records the name and tells the deeds of Rameses II, 
B. C. 1330. 

In the same vicinity is a sarcophagus of wood, another of stone, 
and another of metal, the one of stone being of immense size, 
and all in a fine state of preservation. 

There is a life-size statue of wood, representing an unknown 
king, taken from the tomb of the kings at Thebes, B. C. 1350. 
The arms, nose, and much of the face are gone, but the feet and 
legs are perfect, and are as natural and shapely as can be. I 
noticed a good-sized knot in the wood, that showed plainly on one 
hip. It is wonderful that wood should endure for over three 
thousand years, but here it is, and the inscription verifies the 
fact. 

Among other curiosities from the palaces of Nimrod are a lot 
of diminutive bells, an old reap-hook very much the shape of the 
reap-hooks of our day, and a strainer with a handle to it. So in 
the mighty hunter's day, they had their little call-bells, and the 
good housewife employed a strainer, if not as artistic, yet as use- 
ful as ours. 

There were innumerable little burnt-clay tablets not longer 
than one's finger, containing prayers, hymns, and even texts. 
These came from Babylon and Nineveh. No doubt but the cap- 
tive Israelites planted these seeds from God's Word, and these 
verses from their songs among those that held them in bondage. 



34 



My Trip to the Orient. 



The mummy-hall is a place of much interest. The Scriptures 
-speak of the Egyptians embalming the dead, and here is a con- 
firmation of that fact. I walked among the bodies of men and 
women who had been dead for thousands of years, some still se- 
curely wrapped in cloths woven before Moses was born. 

These old Egyptians had selected the material above all other 
that would last; for these cerements of the grave having been 
steeped in some resinous substance would make them lasting. 
But what of it all? Little did these kings, queens, and princes 
think, before they died, that, after ages, their bodies would be 
dragged from their resting-places, transported over land and sea, 
to be exposed and gazed upon by crowds of the curious from 
every nation under heaven. 

Some of the bodies had been unwrapped and the dried flesh 
exposed; others, again, had been stripped even of the flesh, and 
the white bones laid bare. I examined the teeth of a number; 
some had missing molars, some teeth were decayed, some were 
regular and even, while others were what we call " snaggle-teeth." 
In one instance the front teeth were filled with little round plugs 
of gold, not to fill cavities, as with us. but cavities were evidently 
made and filled for ornamental purposes, so that when a fellow 
grinned, he would show his gold. 

But there were not only mummies of men and women, but 
these old Egyptians embalmed their sacred bulls, cats, and croco- 
diles. I saw several of these animals, before whom these people, 
enlightened in the arts and sciences, bowed down and worshiped. 
What a confirmation of the Scriptures. " Men became vain in their 
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing 
themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory 
of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible 
man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." 

The man that turns away from God's Word is sure to fall into 
gross error, whether that error be the worship of birds, beasts, 
creeping things, or spiritism, Christian science, — falsely so called, 
— theosophy, or the scores of other things condemned in the 
wisest Book the world has ever seen or ever will see. 

As I looked at this dried beef, these swathed tom-cats, and this 
hideous crocodile, I wondered how it was possible that a people 
who chiseled the solid mountain into a Sphinx, reared the Pyra- 



My Trip to the Orient. 



35 



mids with astronomic accuracy, and possessed a literature at that 
time unparalleled in the world's history, could be guilty of the folly 
of reckoning these things as their gods. But this and all other 
similar questions are only solved in the history of man's fall, as 
only recorded in the Book of books. 

These old bulls had long since ceased to bellow, these tom-cats 
to complacently lick their paws in the presence of their worship- 
ers, and their dried carcasses are laid upon the shelf, as so many 
monuments of man's folly and God's wisdom. 

I saw the writing material of the Egyptians, consisting of tab- 
lets, the prepared papyrus, pens of reeds, and inkstands. The 
tablets were of wood, and had receptacles for pens of reeds, long 
but small, not larger round than the tine of a table-fork. The 
inkstands were blocks of stone with a number of small cavities 
in which varied colored inks were placed for the convenience of 
the writer. The papyrus looked a good deal like veneering or 
thin-shaved wood. 

When the Egyptians laid away the bodies of their dead, they 
wrote their name and deeds on papyrus, rolled it tightly together 
and sealed it with two seals, and laid it in with the dead. I saw 
a number of these rolls. 

There is also a large display of sandals for the feet; some of 
straw, some of a material resembling papyrus, and some of leather. 
The straw and the papyrus are in a good state of preservation, 
but the tooth of time has dealt hardly with the leather. 

A large number of unburned brick from Egypt is here. They 
are very much like our adobes in California. They were of dif- 
ferent sizes; in some I could discover the straw incorporated in 
them. These were the kind of brick made by the children of 
Israel while in Egypt. And who knows but that some of these 
here in the British Museum were made by them? 

I saw a number of clay tablets, with their envelopes of the 
same material, written in Babylon two thousand and two thou- 
sand three hundred years before Christ, containing deeds and 
other documents. I was much impressed with a number of 
boundary-stones, erected to mark the boundary of land eleven 
hundred years before Christ. The inscriptions upon them were as 
plain as on the day they were set up. These stones were of basalt 
rock, about a foot square and three feet in height. I was re- 



36 



My Trip to the Orient. 



minded of the command given to Israel, " Thou shalt not remove 
thy neighbor's land-mark." This stone could be removed, if a 
dishonest neighbor saw proper to do so. 

I have read of Nebuchadnezzar since I was a child, and some- 
how the length of his name ever impressed my childish imagina- 
tion with the thought that he was the greatest of Eastern kings. 
It was my privilege to see his door-step. It is of bronze, and 
most beautifully carved and ornamented. It was used B. C. 604. 

Some of the necklaces taken from the tombs at Nimrod re- 
semble the wampum of the North American Indians. Others 
were of beautiful stones of various colors and degrees of fineness. 

In the literary department I was permitted to see some of the 
copies of the Bible done by hand and most elaborately ornamented. 
The skill in the formation of the ornamental letters was marvel- 
ous. Different colors of ink were used, and while there was great 
variety, yet was there uniformity. It must have taken years to 
complete the work. 

Wyclif's Bible and the Latin Vulgate attracted my attention 
more than any other books in this wonderful collection. The 
latter was written in 796-801. 

I have mentioned only a few things that particularly arrested 
my attention, which I thought would interest you. All round 
the walls and everywhere are things curious and interesting. 

I have not mentioned relics and curiosities from every land 
under the sun. 

I left the Museum, feeling that I was not half-satisfied, but I 
could give it no more time. There were other buildings connected 
with the Museum, but I did not have time or opportunity to visit 
them. 

When the Conference opened I went nowhere else. 

THE TO WEE. 

Before leaving California I received a nice letter from Rev. 
H. Neate giving me some useful hints and directions. Among 
other things he stressed a visit to the London Tower. So I em- 
braced the first opportunity to see this historic building. 

In company with Mr. Behrens, a German of New York, and 
his daughter, Miss Sophia, the latter a born guide, who were fel- 



My Trip to the Orient. 



37 



low-passengers on the way over, I went through the Tower, the 
history of which runs back into the mists of tradition. Here, we 
are told, the Emperor Julius Caesar held his court while in Britain. 
But there is enough of unwritten history to make this the most 
conspicuous object in this city of wonders. Miss Behrens had to 
surrender her kodak and her reticule to the custody of an officer 
while we went into the Tower. The first thing that arrested my 
attention in approaching the Tower were numbers of cross-slits in 
the heavy walls, from which soldiers could fire their muskets at 
enemies on the outside, with but little danger to themselves. 
Massiveness and strength marked every part of the pile. In the 
days in which it was built it was impregnable, but with the thir- 
teen-inch guns of the present day, that can hurl a shell ten miles, 
and pierce steel armor-plates a foot thick, they could knock the 
whole thing into a rock-pile in a few hours. 

The moat that surrounded the Tower, and that can still be 
flooded if necessary, is now dry, and the old drawbridge spans it 
unmolested. I looked with interest on the stone steps leading 
from the river, up which many a prisoner had climbed to go out 
no more. We entered heavy oaken doors that had shut out hope 
from many a high-born and many a royal prisoner in troublous 
times. 

In this Tower are treasured up various implements of war from 
the ancient times. Here are the old match-lock guns, the first 
ever used with gunpowder. Then comes the flint-lock, and on 
and on to the guns of the present day. Back of all this is the 
sling, the bow and arrow, the cross-bow, the lance, the spear, the 
grenade, the dagger, sworcl, and battle-ax. Here we find the de- 
fensive armor as well, — the helmet, the breast-plate, and heavy 
and ingenious coats of mail; figures of knights of the olden 
times, mounted on horseback, both horse and ricler covered with 
mail, seemingly heavy and unwieldy enough to weigh down horse 
and rider, and close enough to melt a warrior even in winter-time. 
Then there were instruments of torture and cruelty. I saw 
women shudder when they looked upon the " rack," an instru- 
ment with a heavy beam at each end, round which the ropes at- 
tached to hands and feet are wound, tearing the helpless victim 
in two. Then there was the thumb-screw, not so deadly, but, if 
possible, more cruel. There is preserved the real block on which 



My Trip to the Orient. 



victims laid their necks to have their heads chopped off. The ax 
with which the bloody deed was done is also preserved. It is the 
one with which Lord Lovat was beheaded, April 1, 1747. The 
handle is about two feet in length, and the blade is about fifteen 
inches long and about ten inches wide at the cutting edge. 

One of the most wonderful and elaborately carved brass cannons 
that I ever saw is here. It was brought from Malta in 1798. 
The barrel, four feet long, is most beautifully carved, while on 
the carriage, at the breech, are two figures carved in wood. They 
appear as bound to the carriage, the mouths wide open as if 
screaming in agon}^ while every feature of their faces is distorted 
with pain. The inevitable wood-worms have bored innumerable 
little holes all through these figures. Here, as elsewhere, God, 
through his various agencies, lays his effacing fingers on all things 
here below, and mocks the impotency of man. 

We stood in the prison where many a royal victim had been 
confined. Monograms, names, letters, and sentences are chiseled 
in the hard rock, — done by prisoners who had naught else to do 
to while away the time while waiting on the will of their captors. 

We were conducted into the chapel, where was pointed out the 
oldest organ in England. It is still in use. Lastly, we entered 
the jewel-room, where all the crown jewels are kept. They are 
inclosed in an immense glass-case, that is a room of itself. There 
we saw the crowns of the king and queen of the British Empire, 
and were permitted to gaze as long as we liked upon the spar- 
kling gems that adorned them. Diamonds, rubies, and pearls were 
stuck all over them. By the side of these crowns lay the scepters 
of royalty, the elaborate maces, borne on state occasions by the 
servants of the king. Salt-urns that would hold a gallon, wine- 
receptacles of great size, all of solid gold, to be used at coronation 
banquets, and other things too numerous to mention, were laid up 
and guarded in this room and Tower. 

As I stood and looked at these royal jewels and paraphernalia 
of power and dignity, I felt that perhaps, after all, I experienced 
as much real pleasure and satisfaction in looking at them as the 
owners of them did in wearing them, and I could not but think of 
the coronation day that awaits the faithful servant of God and 
Jesus Christ. We shall need no tower, no soldiers to guard our 
treasures. For there shall be nothing to harm or hurt us in that 



My Trip to the Orient. 



39 



Holy City. Our crowns shall be crowns of righteousness, that 
shall never fade away. 

ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE, LONDON. 

The great Ecumenical Conference of Methodism met in Wesley's 
old church, City Roads Chapel, according to appointment, Sep- 
tember 4, 1901. There was quite a full delegation the first day. 
They had come from all parts of -the w r orlcl. Every continent of 
the globe and many islands of the sea were represented; verifying 
the declaration of Mr. Wesley, "The world is my parish." If he 
himself did not visit all parts of his parish, his followers have, 
bearing an open Bible, and proclaiming the grand and funda- 
mental doctrines of our Lord Jesus Christ, — free salvation to all, 
justification b}^ faith, and the witness of the Spirit to each and 
all. And here, on the very ground where he made the declara- 
tion, were gathered nearly five hundred holy men, to bring news 
from far and near of what God had wrought through the preach- 
ing of the blessed doctrines which he had formulated, and given 
as a glorious heritage to the race. 

Everything about us reminded us of our great leader. A monu- 
ment to his memory stands in the front yard of the church. On 
the right is his house, where he studied, wrote, and prayed. 
Many of his belongings have been preserved in this building. 
But nothing impressed me more profoundly than his little prayer- 
room, — should I not say closet? for it was not much more than 
eight feet square, with one little window opening to the light. As 
I stood alone in this little room, I was even more profoundly im- 
pressed and moved than when I stood in the chapel where he had 
so often stood to proclaim the freeness and fullness of the gospel 
of God's grace. Here was the secret place of his power; here he 
pleaded for his followers, and the world of mankind; here he 
kindled into a hotter flame that heavenly fire with which he first 
felt his "heart strangely warmed"; here he held audience with 
his Master, and sought for relief when the burdens of his own re- 
sponsibilities were too great for him; here he took his cares and 
troubles to one who cared for him, and here, by his example, he 
taught his followers to pray. 

I am not a worshiper of men nor of places, but while here I 



40 



My Trip to the Orient. 



could not but call up the memory of this chosen vessel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and prayed that the Saviour that guided and 
guarded him might ever be my guide and guard. The chapel is 
plain, neat, and substantial. The gallery around three sides of 
the room is borne up by seven massive pillars of high-polished, 
variegated French marble of reddish color. At the base of each 
of these pillars is a plate on which is inscribed the section of the 
church that it represents. One is for the Methodist Episcopal 
Church North, one the Methodist Episcopal Church South, one 
the Irish Church, one the Canadian Church, one the Australian 
Church, one the South African Church, and one the East Indian 
Church. Around the entire gallery, only a foot or two apart, is 
represented a serpent forming a circle by bringing its head and 
tail together, and in this circle a white dove with an olive leaf in 
its mouth, emblematic of the "wisdom of the serpent and the 
harmlessness of the dove." There are beautiful stained-glass win- 
dows just back of the pulpit, and on each side of it tablets and 
inscriptions abound. In the yard, just back of the church, is the 
grave of John Wesley, and by his side rests the body of Method- 
ism's greatest commentator, Dr. Adam Clarke. 

I doubt if Methodism has ever produced so learned a man as 
Adam Clarke. His tomb is a modest one. The inscription upon 
it is nearly effaced. Mr. Wesley's monument is a more recent 
one, and is in a fine state of preservation. 

The Conference opened with a sermon by our own Bishop 
Galloway. The editor of the Methodist Recorder said of it, that 
it was worth all that the Conference had cost. It was plain and 
practical, and was delivered with the grace and ease of manner 
for which he as a speaker is remarkable. I thought he was some- 
what hampered by being in the little round pulpit, elevated 
nearly on a level with the gallery. All the members of the Con- 
ference partook of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. At the 
afternoon session the roll was called, disclosing the fact that the 
great majority of the Conference was present on this first day of 
its session. 

The programme was all arranged by the Business Committee, 
and every man knew his place and his duty. 

At both the morning and afternoon sessions, an essay is read, 
and two other men, selected by the Business Committee, give a 



My Trip to the Orient. 



43 



talk of ten minutes each upon some topic kindred to the essay, 
and the rest of the session is given to whoever might gain the 
floor for a five-minutes' speech. The opportunity for these five- 
minutes' speeches revealed the fact that we are a body of speakers. 
Three and four would spring to their feet at the fall of the gavel, 
that stopped the man on the floor, shouting, " Mr. President," 
and this shouting would continue until one of them was recog- 
nized, when the rest would subside until the gavel shut off the 
wind of the last recognized. 

One afternoon our English brethren got into a discussion over 
the Boer war. There is a large party opposed to the war, who 
are very outspoken. We Americans sat off and enjoyed the con- 
test. 

The news of the attempted assassination of President McKinley 
stirred our British brethren most profoundly, and their resolu- 
tions and speeches showed their deep love for the United States 
and their interest in us. 

Some very fine speeches were made, both by Englishmen and 
Americans. 

OTHER THINGS IN LONDON. 

There are a few other things about London that I desire to 
mention. Among them is a piece of American enterprise. 

The English had built an underground railway. The trains 
were drawn by a steam-locomotive. I went through it once. It 
is a smoky, dusty, "stuffy" sort of a place. But a company of 
Americans have built what is known among the English as the 
"tup'ny tube," — that, is twopenny tube, as twopence, or four 
cents in our currency, is the fare, whether you go one station or 
the whole length of the tube. It is built deep underground, and 
is lined with porcelain bricks. The whole is lighted and run by 
electricity; hence there is no smoke or dust. The cars are con- 
structed much after the American pattern. I had to go through 
this tube twice a day in going to and from the Conference. It 
was always crowded, — in a word, it is the most popular line in 
London. 

One can hardly have seen London until he has visited West- 
minster Abbey. It is a renowned and wonderful building, — its 
history most prominent and important, running back into the 



44 



My Trip to the Orient. 



centuries. It holds the dust of kings and queens of the most 
illustrious line, and while no royal body has been laid within its 
walls for several hundred years, yet tablets erected to the mem- 
ory of names from other walks in life have been added to the 
list. 

We are so accustomed to the use of the adjective "lofty," that 
when we speak of the lofty arches of the Abbey we feel sure you 
will fall short in your estimate of them. Xothing in the building 
impressed me more than they. I have never seen anything ap- 
proximating them. Even St. Paul's, -in its grandeur and massive- 
ness, hardly approaches it. The marble statues and figures that 
stand in great profusion on every side are of the same colossal 
mold. 

I saw the coronation chair. It is a regular heirloom of the 
kingdom. About the only things to commend it are its age and 
the fact that all the kings and queens of England have been 
crowned in it. I think if the man who made it had known that 
it was to survive the ages, and occupy so honorable a position, 
he would have modeled it after a different pattern and laid upon 
it more lines of beauty. As it is, it is a square-box affair, with a 
moderately high straight back, coming to a point at the top. 
Under it is a great stone perhaps two feet long and ten inches 
thick. I could not see the width. It was brought from Scotland. 
The Scotch kings and queens used to sit upon it to be crowned, 
and now every potentate of England, when crowned, must sit 
upon this stone. 

There is one piece of sculpture said to be the finest in the 
Abbey. It is of white marble, representing some duke, with his 
wife dying in his arms, terrified at the approach of Death, which 
is symbolized as a skeleton wrapped in a white sheet. The ex- 
pression upon the duke's face is one of indescribable terror as 
Death approaches with eyeless sockets, grinning teeth, and flesh- 
less arms. 

From Westminster Abbey I went to the Parliament House. 
It is a stupendous building, worthy of so great a nation. Al- 
together, the seats in the House of Lords and in the House of 
Commons were not so fine, artistic, or convenient as I expected 
to see. They were simply long benches; some of them faced 
the presiding officer, but the majority of them were placed on 



My Trip to the Orient. 



45 



each side, with their ends to the President. It struck me as an 
awkward arrangement. 

All the seats or benches in the House of Lords were covered 
with crimson morocco, while those in the House of Commons 
were in black. I went into all the rooms to which visitors are 
allowed. 

On Sunday, September 8th, I was appointed to preach at 
St. John's Square Methodist Church. In going to the church I 
had to pass St. John's Gate. This is an arch of stone, spanning 
the street, said to have been placed there by Julius Csesar when 
he was in Britain. Near it is Smithfield, where John Rogers 
was burned at the stake in 1555, his wife and nine children wit- 
nessing the awful sight, the youngest of the children being still 
at the breast. Two others, John Bradford and John Philpot, in 
1556 and 1557, consecutively, were burned on the same spot. A 
feeling of awe came over me as I read the record of the martyr- 
dom of these faithful servants of God, who "loved not their lives 
unto death." 

The Wesleyan Methodists are doing a wonderful work among 
the poor of London. They have almost the entire Church organ- 
ized for work, and they work. But they complain that they are 
not getting hold of the better classes, as they desire. I think I 
see why it is; they have made the work for the poor a hobby, 
and in their zeal for the one class, they have neglected the other. 
This ought they to have done, and not leave the other undone. 
The invariable result of stressing any one thing too much is to 
lose at other and vital points. Jesus announced the fact "that 
the poor have the gospel preached to them," but he did not con- 
fine his labors to them. Had he done so, the wife of Chuza, and 
others of means, would not have ministered of their substance 
unto him. At his death his body would have gone into the grave 
with the wicked, that had been prepared for him, had not one of 
his rich friends, Joseph of Arimathea, come to the rescue; for 
the literal translation of Isaiah liii, 9, "And he made his grave 
with the wicked, and with the rich in his death," is, "They pre- 
pared his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his 
death." 

I repeat and emphasize the fact, that it is fatal to any cause to 
stress any one point too much, or cultivate any one part of the 
field to the neglect of another. 



46 



My Trip to the Orient. 



CHAPTER III. 

Leaving London — Paris — Rome — Names of the Party — Column of 
Marcus Aurelius — Pantheon — St. Peter's — Pope's Treasures — 
Pope's Carriages — Codex Vatican — Picture of the Judgment, by 
Michael Angelo — Making Saints — Ostian Way — St. Paul's 
Church — Column of Trajan — The Colosseum — Triumphal Arches 
— Ruins of Basilica and Temples — St. John's Church — Scala 
Sancta — Water-supply — Tasso. 

LEAVING LONDON. 

I did desire and intend to remain in London to the close of 
the Conference, for this was my objective point; but I had con- 
templated a trip to Rome, Palestine, and Egypt. I learned that 
J. R. Pepper, of Memphis, Tennessee, with his family, was going 
the very ronte I had laid out in mind. I determined to go with 
him, although this necessitated my leaving London on Monday 
morning, September 9th. 

The English Channel was on its best behavior, and we crossed 
it in an hour and a half. After crossing over, our conversation 
had to be confined to our own little company, for I knew not a 
word of French, and everybody else, of course, confined himself 
to that tongue. 

We reached Paris just at night; it was raining. We had to 
drive from one side of the city to the other to get our train for 
Rome. The whole city, as well as the stores, was ablaze with 
electric lights. The electric cars that we passed in the streets 
were two stories high, and seats on the top besides. I was struck 
with one thing that I saw also in Rome. All around the hotels, 
on the sidewalks, were little tables and chairs, where the people 
sit, especially in the evening, to drink wine and beer, and discuss 
whatever topics that may interest them. I could but ask, What 
becomes of the homes of such a people? 

As we had several hours in Paris, we took supper at a restau- 
rant. At the close of the meal we called for some fruit; they 
brought us a tray with eight nice peaches artistically arranged 



My Trip to the Orient. 



47 



in a nest of grape leaves. We asked the price, and were told 
"one franc" (twenty cents in our currency). We were astonished 
at the cheapness, and took the lot. There were five in our com- 
pany, and we took one apiece, divided two, and gave Sister Pepper 
the whole one. If we had n't eaten so heartily of other things, 
I think we would have ordered another lot. When we came to 
settle our bill, we found they were one franc apiece instead of 
one franc for the lot. We joked Sister Pepper for having eaten 
forty cents' worth of peaches after a hearty supper, and wondered 
what she would dream about. 

The next morning we woke among the Alps, and on looking 
out, the first thing I saw was a beautiful lake lying like molten 
silver among the mountains. The scenery was grand. Great 
rugged mountains towered on each side of the road, while our 
train glided along a narrow valley that lay on each side of a 
fretted stream, hastening from its home in the heights to quieter 
scenes in the lands below. I was struck with the great number 
of chestnut trees loaded with burrs, that made me think of my 
boyhood days, when I used to rise early to pick up the chestnuts 
that might have fallen during the night, and to get ahead of the 
hogs, that were as fond of them as I. I would not take time to 
put on my shoes, and in my eagerness would often step on a burr. 
I actually felt the sensation of having a half-hundred prickles in 
the bottom of my foot. 

It seemed that every available foot of ground was under culti- 
vation, and little patches could be seen away up the mountain 
side, where these poor peasants were coaxing the soil to give 
them a living. I was struck with the appearance of poverty on 
all sides. How the people in the mountains ever make a living- 
is a mystery to me. 

In the evening I caught my first sight of the Mediterranean, 
at Genoa, where Christopher Columbus was born. It is quite a 
place, and the large number of ships seen in the bay gave signs 
of life and prosperity. 

We passed Pisa at night, and did not catch sight of the cele- 
brated "leaning tower." 

At Turin I was struck with the beauty of the place, but espe- 
cially with the elegant residences, that stand high up the hill- 
sides. It must be something of a task to climb to these homes. 



48 



My Trip to the Orient. 



And if their owners have business in the city below them, it 
must take much of their time going to and from their places of 
business, — at least, it gives them plenty of exercise. 

All along through France and Italy, I saw women working in 
the fields, — in fact, doing whatever labor men do. They have a 
hard lot. Brother Pepper tells me that in some places they work 
as section-hands on the railroads. 

One fact I noticed all the way through the Continent, whether 
in the fertile valleys or among the mountains: they have the best 
country roads I ever saw. They are as smooth as the streets of 
a city. I saw a number of yokes of oxen hitched to wagons. 
The tongue of the wagon, instead of ending at the yoke, as with 
us, is turned up in a curve three or four feet high, — for what 
purpose I could not divine. 

ROME. 

We reached Rome about 7:30, a. m., September 11th. Every 
one here calls it Ro-ma, dividing the word into two syllables. 
We were conducted to Hotel de Angleterre, where we met Miss 
Elizabeth Redford, daughter of the late Rev. A. H. Redford, once 
agent of our publishing house in Nashville, Tennessee, who has 
charge of our party. This will make her fourth trip to the 
Orient. She has had charge of other parties, is very enthu- 
siastic, and thoroughly understands the business. From all that 
I have seen, we have a most agreeable party, consisting of Miss 
Elizabeth Redford, Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Pepper, Miss Mar} 7 Pep- 
per, and Master Sam Pepper, of Memphis, Tennessee; Mrs. F. E. 
Bates, of Kansas City, Missouri; Miss Anna H. Scales, of Nash- 
ville, Tennessee; Miss Celeste Harrison, of Mississippi; Miss Sue 
Luck, of Tennessee; Miss Goldie A. Rice, and Miss Cottie M. 
Rice, of Louisville, Kentucky; Miss Bessie Clark, of Jackson, 
Mississippi; Mr. William Magness, of McMinnville, Tennessee; 
and Mr. Edgar Magness, of Attalla, Alabama. Our interpreter 
and conductor was Mr. A. P. Albina, a native of Jerusalem; but 
while in Italy we had an Italian guide. I had not been with the 
party an hour until I felt perfectly at home among them, — though 
a "stranger, they took me in," with a cordiality and kindness 
that was refreshing. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



49 



Just as soon as we removed some of the dust and grime of travel, 
and got our breakfast, — by the way, a breakfast in Rome, and 
everywhere else in this country, consists merely of cold bread and 
saltless butter, and whatever one wants to drink, — we took car- 
riages and went out sight-seeing. 

Miss Redford understands that the object of our coming is to see; 
and she planned accordingly. We were to see as much of Rome 
as possible during our few days' stay here. She had secured the 
best guide to be had, — an Italian born and raised in Rome, 
— a sculptor, whose father before him was of the same craft. He 
is an enthusiast, and delights to show us the wonders of his native 
city and to explain them to us. He is a perfect gentleman, a 
Roman Catholic, and has access to many places denied to other 
guides. He speaks English very well. His name is Del Seniore. 

The first object of interest shown us was the Column of Marcus 
Aurelius, erected 161-180 A. D. It is covered all over with bas- 
relief figures representing his victories over the Germans. It is 
of great size, and towers to a height of 137-i feet. The whole is 
crowned with a statue of St. Paul. 

Perhaps this is as good a place as any other to say that when 
the Church of Rome got into power the effort was made to destroy 
everything that was pagan. Nothing was too beautiful, nothing 
too valuable, nothing too sacred, to stand before their ruthless 
superstitious fanaticism. Temples the most ancient, statues the 
most beautiful, went down in ruin under their hands, until 
some of the wiser popes, to save some of the finest works of art, 
and the more renowned and beautiful buildings, consecrated 
them by making shrines and churches of them. This wonderful 
column was preserved by placing the statue of St. Paul upon it. 
We next went to the Pantheon. This is considered the most 
splendid monument of antiquity. And splendid as it is, it was 
robbed of very much of its wealth of ornament before the Church 
laid its hand upon it and consecrated it to Christ, It was built 
by Agrippa, son-in-law to Augustus Caesar, 27 B. C. It is a per- 
fect dome, and perhaps the largest dome in the world. Its di- 
ameter is 132 feet, and it measures the same in height, You may 
imagine what immense walls are necessary to support such a 
dome. I had no means of measuring the thickness of these walls, 
but they must be ten feet, or even more. 



50 



My Trip to the Orient. 



The building is lighted only by a circular opening at the top, 
twenty-eight feet in diameter, but from the floor it looks not more 
than ten feet. There are sixteen columns of Oriental granite in 
front, made of single blocks crowned with beautiful capitals. I 
estimated these columns at six feet in diameter at the base. The 
doors are original, and are fourteen inches in thickness and 
twenty feet in height. Very much of the interior was at one time 
covered with the most beautiful bronze, but cupidity and supersti- 
tion tore it away, leaving only enough to give one an idea of its 
richness and beauty. 

We drove over the Tiber, on a bridge built by the ancient 
Romans. In widening the river at this point, it was necessary 
to construct two additional arches at the ends of the bridge, but 
the two central arches are those built by the Romans. A better 
piece of work of the kind one seldom sees. They look as if they 
will stand as long as the historic Tiber rolls its tide to the sea. 
Near this bridge is another remarkable piece of masonry. It is a 
sewer built a thousand years before the birth of Christ. It is of 
great size, arched at the top,, and looks as if it would stand three 
thousand years more. It is said that Agrippa took a boat and 
rowed into it, that he might with his own eyes see this wonderful 
structure. Nothing of the kind at the present day surpasses it. 
There are now twelve bridges in Rome, spanning the river Tiber. 

ST. PETER'S. 

Of course, St. Peter's Church, under whose shadow is the Vati- 
can, is one of the most celebrated of the world. I had formed a 
very inadequate idea of its immense size, and it was not until I 
had been all through it, and rode all around it, that I could grasp 
its magnitude. In its construction, genius exhausted itself, and 
the wealth of the richest church on earth was poured in lavish 
profusion upon it. The most renowned sculptors of the world 
gave the most skillful work of their hands to it. Painters have 
expended all their skill in adorning its walls and frescoing its 
ceilings. Kings, queens, potentates, princes, and the wealthiest 
men and women of all lands, have given of their richest and best 
gifts to it. Gold, silver, diamonds, rubies, and all manner of 
precious stones from Orient and Occident flame and sparkle on 



My Trip to the Orient. 



51 



its altars, and garnish its statues and its walls. Popes, whose 
hands have been in the pockets of all the multiplied millions of 
their people round the globe, have vied with one another in 
making this church the wonder of the world. The great of the 
earth, as well as the common people of every land, have made 
pilgrimages to this Mecca of Catholicism, worshiped at its altars, 
and left of their best within its walls. Human ingenuity has 
done all in its power and skill in placing this wealth of treasure 
so as to impress the beholder and awe the faithful. Arched 
aisles stretch away in every direction, on whose marble floors 
men move about as specks, or stand like particles of dust in the 
balance. Statues the most colossal, and yet the most perfect in 
form and grouping, stand along these aisles, or occupy niches 
here and there throughout the building. But the dome, who can 
describe! Though so great in size, so high, yet its proportions 
are so perfect, it leaves nothing to be desired. From where it 
springs above the massive arches that support it on every side to 
the apex, there are pictures in fresco that are almost above criti- 
cism. They blend and charm like a landscape. 

Our guide secured to us the privilege of climbing to the top of 
this dome. Circling round and round like a great corkscrew, the 
steps lifted us higher and higher, until we were dizzy with the 
constant turning and the great elevation. 

On and up we climbed, until some of our party began to pause 
by the way. So narrow was the spiral chamber through which 
we circled, that two men could scarcely pass each other, and yet 
upward we climbed, as if we should never reach the goal. But all 
things earthly must have a limit, and the spiral stairway that 
winds up the dome of St. Peter's must end somewhere this side 
the sky. The last of the 698 steps was taken — were we in the 
ball? Not yet. Any more climbing to do? Yes; there set an 
iron ladder perpendicularly, through the neck that supports 
the ball. Once more, as Bunyan says, " I addressed myself to the 
journey." Narrower and more narrow became the passage, until 
I had to press against the ladder with my breast to squeeze 
through, and at last I stood within the ball, which I found to be 
some eight or ten feet in diameter, without ventilation. It was 
not necessary to stay long, so I was soon on my way down. 

Meeting Brother Pepper, who weighs perhaps seventy-five or 



52 



My Trip to the Orient. 



eighty pounds more than I, at the foot of the ladder, I advised 
him of the strait, and doubted his ability to squeeze through. 
But, nothing daunted, he took off his coat and vest, and prepared 
to climb and squeeze. He succeeded, but said if he had been a 
little larger, or the hole a little smaller, he never could have done 
so. Most of the young ladies of our party also succeeded in 
making the trip. 

I have spoken of the pictures and of the frescoing that adorn 
the walls and ceiling of the dome. These are not all paintings, 
but some are mosaic, hence they are as bright and distinct as the 
day they were made, and will be for a thousand years to come. 
Nor are they copies, but were made by the Masters themselves. 
In building and adorning this central church of Catholicism, 
popes have vied with one another in employing the best artists 
and most renowned painters of the world. And these artists and 
painters have been glad to lay upon these altars the best fruit of 
their skill, that they might perpetuate their names and fame, and 
be talked of round the world. But one must see this wonder of 
architecture and painting to properly appreciate it. No descrip- 
tion can convey an adequate idea of it. 

Our guide secured for us the privilege of viewing the treasures 
of the Pope as stored in this church. There is too much of it, 
and it is too varied to describe. Were I sitting before it as I 
write, my powers would fail me, and I should simply confuse you. 
I shall therefore select only a few things, and speak of, not de- 
cribe, them. 

They have the royal robe of Charlemagne. This is a sort of 
cloak, with as much of gold as could be wrought in it. To me it 
looked clumsy. Perhaps if I had seen it on the shoulders of the 
great chieftain it might have looked better. 

There was shown us the jubilee robe of Pope Pius IX. This, 
too, was heavy with gold, and to my eye it was more striking 
than that of Charlemagne. 

There is a colossal statue of St. Peter in the church, that is 
dressed, as if alive, once a year, — June 29th. The miter placed 
upon the head is of immense size, corresponding with the size of 
the statue. It is covered all over with diamonds and other rare 
and costly gems. The miter itself is largely of gold. The robes 
are all covered with beautiful figures wrought in gold. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



53 



There is a finger-ring set with the rarest and most costly stones. 
This ring, almost as large as a common-sized napkin-ring, just 
fits the finger of the statue. Besides these, there are other orna- 
ments worn by this statue on this day, that I cannot now recall. 
June 29th is called St. Peter's Day, and in Rome is one of the 
greatest in the year. On that day the church is crowded to its 
utmost capacity. Admiring thousands gaze with awe and ad- 
miration on the gold-and-diamond-ladened figure of the apostle, 
while the Peter that the Evangelists tell us about had to look 
into a fish's mouth to get a few pence with which to pay the trib- 
ute laid upon him and his divine Master. But upon what meat 
hath this Peter fed, that he hath grown so great? 

No potentate on earth, east or west, excels him in the richness 
and splendor of his adorning. " Even Solomon in all his glory 
was not arrayed like this one." Nor has ever such homage been 
paid to any one before. As I looked upon this statue and upon 
the gorgeous robes that are placed upon it, — saw with mine own 
eyes the sparkling gems that blazed in the miter they place on 
its head, and heard them tell what homage is paid it, — I could 
not but ask myself the question, Is this the enlightened twentieth 
century? and is it possible for such things to exist in Rome, 
which, before our Saviour's time, sat proud mistress of the world, 
and whose very literature has come down to the present day, — 
where, lying in the same building, is the oldest manuscript of the 
Bible, whose first command was thundered from Sinai against 
the worship of images? But I must not forget that I am telling 
about the treasures of the Pope, that it was my privilege to see. 

There was a " suspensonia," — a something like an immense 
candlestick, whose top spread in every direction, like rays of light. 
Each one of these rays was studded with diamonds great and 
small, until there seemed to be no more place for another precious 
stone. This single article, perhaps four feet in height, cost one 
hundred and twenty thousand dollars. 

Then there was the ring of St. Peter, spoken of before, big 
enough to go over the fist of a child, but that just fits the finger 
of the statue, that was worth its thousands. This, too, is placed 
on the finger of St. Peter, June 29th, with all the other rich be- 
longings of this fisherman of Galilee. 

There was a candelabra presented by the gifted Michael Angelo. 



54 



My Trip to the Orient. 



It is said to be the richest in the world. Then there were shown 
us the robes worn by Pius IX on his jubilee, made expressly for 
the occasion. These robes blazed with gold wrought into the very 
texture of the fabric. These were never used but the one time, 
and are now laid away, only to be looked at. These are only a 
part of the many things we saw in this home of treasures. 

We were conducted through portions of the Vatican, extra 
privileges being accorded us. We were permitted to see the Pope's 
carriages. They were twelve in number, and of the richest and 
most elaborate patterns, each one differing from the other. We 
were accompanied by the Pope's coachman, who, our guide told 
us, talked more to "His Holiness" than any other man. 

He opened all the carriages for us, and let us look at the luxu- 
rious cushions and the rich trimmings. Had we seen any one 
of them alone, we should have thought -it fine, but the last one 
shown us was simply gorgeous. I wish I could describe it; I wish 
I could give you an idea of it. It blazed all over with gold. It 
was of immense size, and contained but one elaborately cushioned 
and adorned seat. Figures of cherubim of gold were under the 
dashboard, and every part, from top to bottom, was constructed 
with an eye to beauty, grandeur, richness, and effect. No horses 
were ever attached to it, but six stalwart men, dressed for the oc- 
casion, drew it, with its honored occupant, the only time it was 
ever used, — on the occasion of the Pope's jubilee. As I stood 
and looked upon all this display of wealth and beauty, and heard 
our guide tell of the display of this " vicegerent " of the lowly 
Nazarene, who, so far as we know, never rode but once, and that 
on the " colt of an ass," just such as we saw in every street in 
Rome and Jerusalem, I could but exclaim, " What a contrast! 
The servant has become greater than his Master!" Hear the 
herald of the only potentate, King of kings, and Lord of lords, 
"Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold thy king cometh, sitting on 
an ass's colt"; and then as I look upon this his servant lifted 
from the pit, as the purchase of his blood, as he rides in all the 
pomp and pageant of the mightiest of earthly kings, drawn amid 
bowing multitudes by men of his own race, in amazement I ex- 
claim, " What a contrast! " 

There is a bronze statue of St. Peter in the church, that has 
actually had the toes of the right foot worn away by the multiplied 



My Trip to the Orient. 



55 



thousands that have bowed and kissed them. Just think of how 
many soft lips must have been applied to this hard metal to wear 
it away until it looks like a clubfoot, and yet here it stands, an 
ocular demonstration that the thing can be done. I had been 
laboring under the delusion that the Pope let the faithful kiss 
his toe, and when the historian tells us that Luther, in his 
search for peace, kissed the Pope's toe, I did not know that this 
was the toe he kissed. 

But to return to what we saw in the Vatican, — this treasure 
of the wonders of the world. As I said, our guide, being a devout 
Catholic, and of a noted family, secured for us special favors. 

The sight that I prized above all others was the sight of the 
Codex Vatican, one of the oldest and most highly prized copies of 
the Scriptures in existence. The parchment upon which it is 
written is in a perfect state of preservation. It is written in three 
columns to the page, and the writing is remarkably clear and 
distinct. This is not a -copy, but is the original book, with its 
binding and all. I am not a worshiper of either men, things, or 
places; but I must confess to a veneration for this oldest copy 
of the Word of God in existence, and I felt thankful to the au- 
thorities of the Romish Church for its perfect preservation. 

There is an immense number of valuable books and manuscripts 
stored in the Vatican, — about one hundred and thirty thousand 
volumes, and twenty-five thousand manuscripts, many of them 
exceedingly valuable. 

There are, in the building, two pillars of porphyry, said to have 
been taken from Solomon's Temple, but I take this, as many other 
things, "with a grain of salt." There are, however, enough upon 
which we can rely to satisfy much of our curiosity. 

In the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is the celebrated — I might 
say the renowned — picture painted by Michael Angelo on the 
wall above the altar. I was disappointed in this, as a whole, 
though when taken in detail the characters represented are very 
fine. It strikes me as a fact, that one, however great a genius he 
may be, cannot intelligently present as many things as are found 
here in the compass of one picture. 

This picture is called "The Last Judgment." In it is por- 
trayed Christ seated with the Virgin Mother, surrounded by 
saints, patriarchs, and prophets, the archangel summoning the 



56 



My Trip to the Orient. 



dead to judgment. On the right are the redeemed; on the left, 
the lost. Very many individual characters are portrayed on the 
wall. To me, the whole thing is confusing. I find the same 
fault with other pictures over which critics rave. The blending 
of the visible and the invisible, the earthly and the heavenly, in 
the same picture, is to my mind an incongruity, as well as an im- 
possibility. It is not natural, and hence does not appeal to me. 

We visited the Hall of the Immaculate Conception, where this 
dogma was proclaimed, — a dogma that was intended to deify the 
mother of our Lord, and for which there is not a shadow of proof 
in the Scriptures. But here we stood in a hall where one of the 
greatest of the popes, — esteemed and declared infallible, — -sur- 
rounded by his cardinals, solemnly announced this dogma to the 
world, and fixed it in the Church forever. 

Immediately under the dome of St. Peter's is a canopy, on 
which art has expended its greatest skill, the pillars of which are 
said to be copies of some in Solomon's Temple. Under this can- 
opy the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul, we were told, are buried. 
In fact, the bodies of these men are said to be divided up, and 
fragments are buried at different places. We saw all these places. 
Under this canopy, and over the heads of the Apostles, is a chest 
of silver, some twenty inches long and twelve inches wide, and 
the same in height. Whenever a new cardinal is made, a piece 
of his stole is cut off and deposited in this box as evidence that 
he is a cardinal. We caught frequent views of the garden and 
grounds of the Pope. They are artistically laid out, and are very 
beautiful. I could write pages, where I have written paragraphs, 
about St. Peter's and the Vatican. 

St. Peter's Church, according to the best authorities, occupies 
the site of Nero's Circus, and is thought by the same authorities 
to be the identical spot where St. Paul was executed. These au- 
thorities differ from Conybeare and Howson on this subject, the 
latter settling the matter, to my mind. 

In St. Philip's Church I saw Cardinals Cassetta and Svampa 
engaged in making saints. The church is a very large one, and 
I think I will not overestimate the number when I say there were 
ten thousand candles burning in the building. Beside the altar, 
and every other available place, there were lighted candles, and 
then the entire wall from floor to top of dome was studded with 



My Trip to the Orient. 



57 



them. Nor Avere they stuck about at random, but they were 
arranged so as to produce the best effect. The two cardinals 
(one of whom, it is thought, will be the next pope) were dressed 
in red, with red hats on their heads. A great choir assisted with 
its music in rendering high mass. If the men whose names were 
linked with this service were not made saints, it will be no fault 
■of these cardinals, judging from the manner in which they con- 
ducted the service. 

OSTIAN WAY. 

W e took a drive of several miles on the Ostian Way to St. Paul's 
Church, which is outside the city limits. Tradition has it that 
here St. Paul was beheaded. 

Our guide told us, in all seriousness, that " when his head was 
■cut off, it gave three jumps, and that wherever it struck, a foun- 
tain of pure water spouted out." And as the fountains are there, 
thousands believe it. Anyway, they have built one of the most 
magnificent churches on the spot. We saw nothing outside of 
St. Peter's that excelled it. 

In one of the chapels of this church, which I estimated to be 
three hundred feet long, not including the altar space, there are 
eighty great columns of solid marble, in four rows. These 
•columns must be four or five feet in diameter, and forty or fifty 
feet high. The floor — as in all the churches in Rome — is of 
marble, beautifully laid in various colors. The pillar to which 
the Apostle was bound just before his martyrdom is shown in 
this church. 

THE BASILICA. 

We visited the ruins of an immense basilica, in the midst of 
which is the Column of Trajan. This column is the most stupen- 
dous monument of ancient Rome. It has survived destruction 
by having a statue of St. Peter placed upon it. 

It stands 135 feet in height. It records, in bas-relief figures, 
arranged in spiral order from base to summit, the victories of 
Trajan over the Dacians. There are two thousand five hundred 
figures on the column, consisting of men, horses, arms, machines 
of war, trophies, etc. It is remarkable how very perfect and 
distinct these figures are to-day. 



58 



My Trip to the Orient. 



Near this column are the ruins of the Temple of Trajan. 
Broken marble columns of surpassing beauty strew the ground,, 
or stand as silent monuments of departed splendor. Here, at one 
time, this mighty man held court, or walked amid this forest of 
columns as one of the greatest of earth. But he is gone, and only 
these old sentinels stand where their master stood, and keep- 
watch over his fane, and at the same time they tell of the folly 
of human greatness and the changeful nature of all things beneath 
the sun. 

There once stood a hill on this spot, just the height of this 
column, and Trajan had his minions dig and bear it away, that 
he might here, in the heart of "the Eternal City," build his court 
and rear a monument to perpetuate his name. Here in this ba- 
silica the tribunes of Rome sat to judge the people. But were it 
not for history, and the tales of tradition, we should walk amid 
this wreck to-day and wonder what it all meant. 

THE COLOSSEUM. 

Nothing in Rome stands out more prominently than the ruins 
of the Colosseum. It is right in the heart of the city, not far 
from the tomb of Hadrian, which is a massive circular building, 
and one of the land-marks of the city. 

The Colosseum covers six acres of ground. On the outside it 
is a perfect circle, on the inside it is elliptical, making the walls 
of unequal thickness. The rising amphitheater is supported by 
walls and arches of solid masonry. The work on this building 
was done mainly by the Jews taken captive by Titus at the siege 
of Jerusalem. They were brought here in countless thousands, 
and put to this labor. 

The very stubborn resistance made to the Roman armies, when 
they did fall, embittered their conquerors against them, and the 
more they oppressed and humiliated them. Fifteen thousand of 
them died while building the Colosseum. 

Wonderful had been the predictions against them, and fearfully 
were they fulfilled. 

Moses said: " And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, 
from the one end of the earth even unto the other: and there 
thou shall serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers 



My Trip to the Orient. 



59 



have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations 
shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have 
rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and fail- 
ing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt 
before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have 
none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would 
God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were 
morning ! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, 
and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see." 

How literally was this fulfilled as these merciless task-masters 
drove them to death. 

The quarry from which much of the stones were taken in build- 
ing the Colosseum was six miles away. They formed a line of 
Jews the full length, and made them pass the stones from one to 
the other along the line. 

Their oppressors cared nothing for their lives, but like dumb 
beasts they were driven to their tasks, and when one fell, another 
was put in his place. 

We know of no building in the world that equals this in its 
capacity. It could seat an audience of one hundred thousand 
people. The walls are of immense height, and were formerly 
crowned with an entablature adorned with pilasters and windows. 
The most beautiful columns stood at short intervals on the top of 
the walls. We saw some of the fragments of these columns, that 
showed they were wrought in the highest style of the art. The 
arena where the exhibitions took place, and that attracted the 
thousands of spectators of every class, from the Emperor down, 
was 278 feet long and 177 feet wide. It was in full view from 
every seat. A place was reserved for the Emperor, and always 
opposite him sat the vestal virgins. 

When we call up the scenes that were enacted within these 
walls, the slaughter of men and animals, and remember that men 
and women actually enjoyed their death-struggles, and instead 
of being satiated and surfeited with them, they called for more, 
and gloated over them, we find a trait in human nature that is 
appalling. 

Human nature, unsanctified by the grace of God, is unadul- 
terated meanness and cruelty. It was to purify and save this 
ruined humanity that Christ came. And ere the babe had seen 



60 



My Trip to the Orient. 



the light of a single day, the announcement was made, "Peace 
on earth, and good will to men." 

But to return to the building. It would seem that human in- 
genuity could not have devised a more stable structure of its size 
than this. And yet here it is, in ruins. The secret is, that its 
walls have been torn clown, and its ornamental columns have 
been -removed with which to build other houses. Palaces and 
churches have been constructed out of the material taken from 
this mighty building. In it was the blood of the martyrs of 
Jesus, and this blood, like the blood oi Abel, seems to have cried 
from the ground. And God and man have been against it. 
More than once it has been shaken and rent by earthquakes. 
And barbarians and Christians have each, in turn, taken a hand 
in destroying it, until one of the popes set up a number of shrines 
in it, and thus made it a sacred spot. 

At least one third of the building is gone, while of the thousands 
of marble columns with which it was adorned, not a single entire 
one is left. 

TRIUMPHAL ARCHES. 

Near the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine. It stands di- 
rectly over the Appian Way, and is in a fine state of preserva- 
tion. 

But what interested me most was the Arch of Titus, erected on 
the Via Sacra, or " sacred way," to celebrate his victory over 
Jerusalem, in that most memorable of sieges. While other mem- 
bers of our party were talking of this or that, calling attention to 
the grand views from this point, I was lost in contemplation of 
the figures in bas-relief chiseled on its walls, especially the figure 
of the golden candlestick taken from the Temple at Jerusalem. 
We are told that this is the only representation of this candle- 
stick in the world. All others are but copies of this one. Titus 
brought it with him as one of the trophies of his victory. What 
ever became of it no one knows. One of the legends concerning 
it is, that it was thrown into the Tiber to save it from the hands 
of the invader. Beyond this arch the Via Sacra leads through 
the Basilica of Julian up to the Temple of Jupiter. For ages 
these historic buildings have been covered with an accumulation 
of earth and detritus to the depth of from twenty to thirty feet. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



61 



This is now being removed. The locations of these buildings 
have been discovered and their forms determined, for long lines 
of parts of columns of the most beautiful pattern have been un- 
covered. The day we were there, men were at work removing 
the covering of earth that has hidden away and preserved these 
remnants of Rome's greatest structures. 

Of the Temple of Jupiter three unbroken columns remain. In 
this temple is a platform, where sat the highest in authority, and 
to whom the conquerors came with the spoils of their victory, 
and from whom they received the highest honors. The Temple 
of Saturn was not far off. Eight pillars of this building still 
stand. Near-by is the Temple of Castor and Pollux, with its 
three pillars. These pillars are considered the most beautiful in 
Rome. This temple was erected at the fount Juturna, where the 
brothers Castor and Pollux watered their horses when they an- 
nounced the victory of Lake Regulus to the Romans. Over the 
fountain stand figures of two colossal horses, led by men of equal 
proportions, to represent these brothers. 

We were shown the spot where Romulus and Remus had their 
contention about the height of the walls of Rome, which ended in 
the death of Remus. 

A live wolf is kept near the capital; also an eagle. I saw the 
wolf. He is a fine, large one. In the same inclosure is a monu- 
ment to the memory of Rienzi, the last of the tribunes. On this 
spot he was addressing the people, although advised not to ven- 
ture among them, when he was slain. 

I have not the time to write of the many objects of interest 
shown me. Among them, however, I will mention a very large 
bath of porphyry, which belonged to Nero. It was dug up from 
the ruins of his palace. 

I visited the celebrated Mamertine prison, where, tradition tells 
us, St. Paul and St. Peter were imprisoned. It may be that the 
former was. But two churches have been built over it; one above 
the other. And while it is a veritable prison, dismal enough for 
any age, yet the whole thing may have been altered to suit the 
notion of some one who lived long after the time of the Apostles. 

We visited church after church, until I began to tire of it. But 
our guide took us to the Church of St. John. This is one of the 
most important churches in Rome, from the fact that in it all 



62 



My Trip to the Orient. 



cardinals are elected, and from the front piazza the proclamation 
of a new pope is first made. And my understanding was that 
popes are elected only in this building. 

Of course we visited the celebrated " Scala Sancta," or flight of 
twenty-eight steps, said to have been brought from " Pilate's house 
in Jerusalem, specially venerated because Jesus Christ is said to 
have' ascended and descended them, bathing them in his blood." 
Whether there be any truth in this story or not, there is no mis- 
take of their veneration and use. You remember that Martin 
Luther, when he was seeking justification, came to these stairs, 
and, as was required then, as now, commenced their ascent on 
his knees. He climbed the stone steps. But these stones have 
been so worn by the knees of the penitent, and those seeking in- 
dulgences, that the} 7 had to cover them with wood. 

I stood at the foot of these stairs and counted fourteen slowly 
climbing them on their knees. All were women, except one, who 
seemed to be a mere lad. 

They would come in, reverentty fall upon their knees on the 
lowest step, remain in prayer for at least a minute, and then, still 
on their knees, climb to the next, It is said that he who climbs 
these stairs on his knees, repeating the required prayers, will 
have indulgence for a thousand years. 

Oh, how my heart bled for these poor deluded creatures, when 
I knew there was One then able and willing to speak their sins 
forgiven in a moment, "For the just shall live by faith." 

But I must desist, I suppose there is not a city in the world 
that is better supplied with water than the city of Rome. Foun- 
tains pour out their wealth of water on every hand. The ruins of 
the old Roman aqueduct challenge the admiration and wonder of 
architects of the present day, while the aqueduct that supplies 
the city at present would do honor to any city. The fountains 
of which we have spoken are all of the most beautiful kind. 
Many of them are composed of marble statues of men, and 
animals of various kinds. Almost any one of the larger ones 
wastes enough water in the twenty-four hours to supply a small 
city. 

The last afternoon in Rome, we took a drive on one of the hills 
above the city, on the western side. As the sun was sinking, he 
lit up the sides of the houses next to us, and presented a picture 



My Trip to the Orient. 



63 



that will long linger in my memory. We looked over on the 
original "seven hills," on which the city is built. But the space 
•encompassed in these seven hills cannot now contain the four 
hundred thousand inhabitants, and they have taken in other 
hills. We drove by the splendid monument erected to the mem- 
ory of Garibaldi. The spot where it stands is well chosen. On 
this drive we visited the house in which Tasso lived and died. I 
stood beneath the oak, that is carefully preserved, beneath which 
he wrote his celebrated poem, "Jerusalem Delivered." I have 
ever been an admirer of Tasso, and I felt a peculiar thrill as I 
stood where he had often stood, and visited his burial-place under 
the altar at which he worshiped. 



64 



My Trip to the Orient. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Naples — Pompeii — Macaroni — Island of Capri — Blue Grotto — Beg- 
gars — Patras — Milking Goats. 

NAPLES. , 

There were other things that I desired to see in Rome. But 
our plan led us next to Naples. 

There is a direct line of railroad between Rome and Naples. 
But, a few days before our leaving Rome, an avalanche of earth 
had completely blocked the way. So we took another road to 
the east, and then took carriages and drove over the Apennine 
Mountains, striking the road on the west side, below the obstruc- 
tion. 

This was a most delightful drive amid the olive orchards 
and vineyards, that abound all over Italy. We also had the 
privilege of seeing the people in the country, and of observing- 
their customs. 

We reached Naples about night, and were surprised to find 
that it had two hundred thousand more inhabitants than Rome, 
and that the business of the place was very much greater. 

The night we arrived, we had one of the most terrific thunder- 
storms to pass over the city that it has been my pleasure to listen 
to in many a clay. For half an hour there was not an interval 
of darkness between the vivid flashes of lightning, and the thunder 
was one continued roar, with an occasional peal that shook the 
very earth. We had a similar storm while in Rome, but it was 
not so severe. I enjoyed the music of the thunder wonderfully. 
I have always loved to hear it thunder. When but a child, there 
was no music so attractive, and I find that my long residence in 
California, where we but seldom hear it, has not destroyed my 
love for it. 

Our first trip at Naples was to the ruin's of Pompeii. An hour's 
run by rail brought us to the foot of Mount Vesuvius, from whose 
top rolled out great volumes of smoke. Immediately over the 



My Trip to the Orient. 



65 



crater the smoke was red, as it was lit up by the fires within the 
crater. 

We first passed the site of Herculaneum. This buried city 
lies nearer the base of Vesuvius than does Pompeii, but researches 
have been confined mainly to the latter. On arriving at the 
station, we were immediately conducted into the exhumed city. 
We were first shown some of the things of interest taken from the 
ruins. We saw the bodies of a number of men and women, just 
in the position in which the volcanic storm overtook them. In 
almost every instance the men had money-belts around their 
bodies. We saw the body of a poor dog all doubled up as if in a 
death agony. We were shown loaves of bread taken from an oven. 
It was badly burned. But the poor man or woman who put it to 
bake had no opportunity of taking it from the oven when it was 
done, and so it burned to a coal. We saw the oven from which 
it was taken, when passing through the city. 

The streets were all well paved, with neat sidewalks on each 
side. Most of the streets were quite narrow, and in many of them 
deep ruts were worn in the solid stone pavements, by the wheels 
of the carriages. These streets were just wide enough between 
the sidewalks for a carriage to pass, and as a consequence the 
wheels always ran in the same places. There was no such thing 
as two carriages passing each other in the streets. This had to 
be done at the crossings of streets. There were no animals used, 
but two slaves drew the carriages. At frequent intervals there 
were stepping-stones near the crossings of the streets, that stood 
up even with the sidewalks, for the convenience of pedestrians in 
crossing the streets. The carriages had to straddle these stones. 
In one of the main streets stood a fountain surrounded by a 
square marble coping about three feet high. On one side, raised 
above this coping, was the figure of a man, from whose mouth the 
water flowed. So popular was this drinking-place, and so fre- 
quently was it used, that a place was worn in the stone where the 
drinker placed his hand when he leaned over to put his mouth to 
the mouth of the fountain, and all the mouth, and part of the 
nose of the marble figure, were worn away by the lips of the 
thirsty multitudes that drank at it. I could hardly believe this, 
had I not seen it with my own eyes, and had I not seen the bronze 
toes of the statue of St. Peter kissed away by the lips of the faith- 
ful. 



66 



My Trip to the Orient. 



For more than an hour we were conducted from street to street,, 
and from house to house, by our guide. One thing impressed 
me. It was the distinctness of colors and shapes of the frescoing 
on the walls of the houses. We went into one house that was 
evidently the home of a rich man. The floors were laid in mosaic 
of the most beautiful and delicate pattern, while the frescoing on 
the walls was beautiful. The objects pictured on the walls of the 
dining-room were unique and appetizing. The} r consisted of 
little winged figures like cupids, — some baking, some brewing, 
some gathering grapes and pressing wine, — all actively engaged 
at something. These figures were in colors on a black back- 
ground, that brought them out very distinctly. 

The bath-rooms were very luxurious. They evidently were 
prepared to give either warm or cold baths. There was a public 
bath-house, with the tub about twelve feet in diameter and nearly 
three deep, let into the floor. There were four niches in the 
walls, evidently for dressing-rooms. 

The bath-room for ladies adjoined, but there was no com- 
munication between them. Each had a set of furnaces. 

The amphitheater is very similar in shape and arrangements 
to those seen in Rome, Athens, and elsewhere. The arena is cir- 
cular, while the seats rise in circular form round about it. It 
has been estimated that this one would comfortably seat twelve 
thousand eight hundred spectators. It is in a fine state of preser- 
vation. 

The signs of the different craftsmen were worked into the outer 
walls of the houses. For instance, a square of mosaic, a foot or 
eighteen inches square, indicated that this work was done within. 
A hardware merchant had knives, reap-hooks, scissors, etc., on 
his sign. 

A triangular forum or temple is indicated by rows of broken 
columns, platforms, and other objects. 

The citizens of Pompeii were evidently fond of sports. Besides 
the amphitheater spoken of, they had a tragic theater, containing 
twenty-eight tiers of seats, that would hold five thousand specta- 
tors; also, a comic theatre, that would seat fifteen hundred people, 
and a place surrounded by a colonnade, used for gladiatorial 
contests. 

So these rocks, wrought into theaters and places of amusement. 



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67 



like a book that has been closed for multiplied centuries, now 
thrown wide open, tell of the folly of this people. 

There are things portrayed on the walls of some of their houses, 
of which we cannot speak, that reveal to us the fact that society 
among these people was rotten to the core. And doubtless their 
sins, like those of the cities of the plain, smelled unto heaven, 
and brought the swift judgment of God upon them. 

And as it was in the days of Abraham: "And he looked toward 
Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and 
beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke 
of a furnace." 

So old Vesuvius, as the instrument in God's hand, still sends 
up his smoke, "like the smoke of a furnace," to tell us of the 
power and of the righteous indignation of God, — an emblem, — 
as Jude expresses it, "an example, suffering the vengeance of 
eternal fire." 

Great beds of lava from the lips of the crater to the sea still lie 
incrusting the mountain to its base. And yet on this very lava 
towns are built, and people live as careless as did the inhabitants 
of Pompeii. 

I stood near the thick coating of earth and ashes with which 
the city has been covered for centuries, but now being removed, 
and thought how wonderfully God has kept his secrets until now, 
and what careful hands he has employed to reveal them. 

Our stay in Naples was so short, we did not have time to visit 
the museum in which are laid up the choisest treasures of 
Pompeii. But on our return we have promised to look farther, 
and perhaps to climb Vesuvius itself. 

As we approached Pompeii, our guide pointed out the factories 
where the great body of macaroni is manufactured. Tons upon 
tons of it are turned out here every year. He gave me the his- 
tory of its name. 

A certain king, that had more food than appetite, sent his ser- 
vant to the market to get something very nice. He came back 
with a lot of hollow noodles. When asked about them, he said, 
"It cost very dear." (Of course speaking in Italian.) The sen- 
tence sounds like "macaroni." And that gave name to this 
Italian delicacy, that is known round the world. 

One afternoon. Brother Pepper and I drove to the outskirts of 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



Naples. As we stood upon a hill overlooking the Mediterranean, 
we saw a little village lying at the month of a small stream. On 
asking its name, were told that it was Pnteoli, the place where 
Panl first set his foot on Italian soil, after his tempestuous voyage. 

Luke tells us: "And we came the next day to Puteoli, where 
we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven 
days; and so we went toward Rome." 

It is a very small place. I suppose no larger than when Paul 
landed there. 

While in Naples we made an excursion by a little steamer to 
the island of Capri, that lies in the mouth of the Bay of Naples. 

The Bay of Naples is a perfect picture of beauty. The water 
is remarkably clear, and the most beautiful blue, often shading 
into emerald in the most wonderful manner. We first steamed 
across to the old town of Sorrento, the birthplace of the poet 
Tasso; then to Capri. This island was a favorite with Tiberius 
Cassar. Here he built a palace on the brow of a high hill. Some 
of the old walls and the ruins of the palace are still there. On a 
point jutting out into the sea is a fort, from which, it is said, 
Tiberius at one time had a number of slaves thrown. The preci- 
pice is several hundred feet high. It is also related, in connection 
with this event, that he had men stationed at the foot of the cliff 
with Clubs, so that if any of the unfortunate slaves should survive 
the fall, they might dispatch them. 

We, in our day of enlightment, can hardly realize that a mon- 
ster of such cruelty would be suffered to live. 

A more beautiful spot than this island it is hard to find. It is 
covered with grape-vines and olive trees; and the most charming 
views are to be had from a thousand points of observation. 
"Every prospect pleases, and only man is vile." 

One object in our coming to this island was to visit the cele- 
brated "Blue Grotto." This grotto is entered by boats from the 
sea. The opening is very small, — -just large enough to admit of 
a row-boat. We had to lie flat down on the bottom of the boat 
as we passed in. But when inside, as soon as our eyes could 
accommodate themselves to the subdued light that came only by 
the little orifice through which we entered, and under the sea, we 
found ourselves in a most beautiful grotto. The height of the in- 
terior is forty-one feet, with nearly fifty feet of water. It is 100 



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69 



feet by 175 feet. The water is of the most delicate light blue I 
ever beheld. You feel as if you were in an enchanted cave. 
There is a sort of weird, uncanny appearance about the whole 
thing, that strikes you with awe. The peculiar color of the water, 
as reflected to the ceiling and in the faces of your companions, is 
remarkable. 

I tried to divine the cause of this strange color given to the 
water, and my theory is, that it is caused by refraction. The 
opening to the grotto above the water is too small to admit enough 
light to illuminate the cave, and the water being deep and clear, 
the light comes up, as it were, from below, and the rays, being 
deflected, or bent, give to it its peculiar color. A copper coin 
was thrown into the water, and a boy dived after it. His body, 
as he went down, had a strange silvery appearance. We could 
see him distinctly more than ten feet under water. He caught 
the copper, and brought it in triumph to the surface. 

Our return trip across the bay was one long to be remembered. 
Vesuvius stood before us in all his grandeur. Not a cloud flecked 
the sky. But great volumes of smoke rose out of the crater of 
the volcano and rolled in white billows away to the south, while 
Naples and the surburban villages lay like a coral reef along the 
circling shore at its base. I stood on the deck of the vessel for 
more than an hour and watched the smoke as it boiled out of the 
mountain and drifted away. 

Of all the cities we have visited, Naples reveals to us the most 
beggars. From little children, to the old and decrepit, they 
stretch out their hands and beg. One little rascal, not more than 
six years old, with doleful look shook an armless sleeve to reveal 
his misfortune and claim our pity. But when we took hold of 
him, found the lost arm inside his shirt. He only laughed at our 
discovery, and continued to beg. Boys would trot along beside 
our carriages and turn handspring after handspring, and rush up 
with confidence for the reward of their agility. Twelve-year-old 
girls would run for half a mile by us, begging for a centime (the 
fifth of a cent). We could enter no church or public place with- 
out having hands thrust under our noses, with an appeal for 
money. 

We left Naples on the west for Brindisi on the east side of the 
peninsula of Italy. It was an all-day run, though it was less 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



than one hundred miles. There is no rush or hurry here, either 
by rail or any other way. Our road passed over and under the 
Apennines. We were scarcely out of one tunnel until we were in 
another. They kept lights burning in the car all the while. We 
were in one tunnel three quarters of an hour. Brindisi is a very 
old town, and is the terminus of the celebrated Appian Way, that 
starts at Rome, made memorable by its connection with the his- 
tory of the Apostle Paul. We had only a few hours in Brindisi, 
but we went in search of Virgil's Column, erected here in mem- 
ory of this greatest of the Latin poets. We saw the building in 
which he died, and the modest but beautiful shaft near-by, that 
an appreciative people have erected to his memory. His body 
lies at Naples. 

PATRAS. 

The day after leaving Brindisi, we landed at Patras. We were 
now in classic Greece, and could look in no direction without see- 
ing something historic, something that would call up names and 
places made familiar in our school days. 

Right across the bay was the battle-field of Missolonghi, on 
which Marcos Bozzaris was killed. There Lord Byron fought. 
There he was taken sick and died. His heart was taken out and 
buried on the battle-field, where he fought, but his body was 
taken to England and buried near Newstead Abbey, as they re- 
fused it a place in Westminster Abbey. 

We landed at Patras, where we spent several hours. I was 
astonished at the great trade in what they call currants, but they 
are small seedless grapes; for I examined them, and was after- 
wards permitted to see them as they were spread out to dry, at 
Corinth, where the great body of them is grown. They pack 
them in boxes, in barrels, and in bags. I passed by scores of 
houses where men, women, and children were cleaning, picking, 
and sorting them. I went into some of these houses and was 
shown every courtesy, and everything explained to me that could 
be made by signs; for I could not speak Greek, and they could 
not speak English. I went down to the wharf and saw great 
numbers of ships loading with them. We reached Greece just in 
the height of the grape and wine season. It. is the first place I 
ever saw where the grapes are equal to our California grapes. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



71 



They seem to have none but the choicest varieties, and thes 3 were 
in great perfection. Most of their vines are trimmed low, as 
ours. But certain varieties are trained on poles or trellises. 

I have seen thousands of goat-skin bottles filled with wine. 
These skins have the hair taken off with lime, and the skin is then 
turned inside out, and is ready to fill. We saw hundreds of carts 
filled with these skins. At one station there were at least five 
hundred empty casks strung along the side of the track. Men 
would drive their carts up, take out a skin, and, putting the neck 
to the bung-hole, let the wine run in. Every night, while in 
Athens, we could hear the carts going by the hotel, at all hours 
of the night. I suppose they haul them largely at night because 
of the greater danger of heating and fermenting in the day. 
Nearly everybody, I am told, drinks wine at their meals, and, 
strange to say, there are but few drunkards in Greece. Donkeys 
are very largely used here, both in Italy and in Greece. Some 
of them are very small, but they carry enormous loads. I have 
seen six baskets, holding over a half-bushel each, on one little 
donkey. You could only see his little slender legs, his head, and 
tail. Then I have seen a load of wood as big as himself piled 
up on him. And these patient little creatures have to stand all 
day in the streets until their load is sold. 

MILKING GOATS. 

Goat's milk is so universally used, that if you want cow's 
milk, you have to call for it by name. Nearly all the butter used 
is made from goat's milk. I found both the milk and butter 
good. 

You can see a man with a lot of milk-measures driving ten or 
a dozen goats through the streets. When he reaches the house 
of a customer, he squats behind a nanny-goat and milks the re- 
quired amount, and drives on to the next. All the goats while 
in town are muzzled, — I suppose to keep them from foraging. 

Nearly all the Greeks dress in American style, though a few of 
them cling to the old form of dress. They have a skirt like a wide 
frill reaching from the waist to the knees, usually of some light 
white cloth. This frill is wrapped round and round the waist un- 
til it is eight or ten inches thick. Being so thick, and frilled all 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



the way, a very graceful, billowy motion is imparted in walking. 
It is said it takes about forty yards to make one of these garments. 
The whole length of the leg and thigh is incased in tightly fitting 
stockings. The upper part of the body is incased in a richly em- 
broidered jacket or vest, and a vizorless cloth cap crowns the 
whole. The shoes turn up at the toes several inches, on which is 
an immense tuft or tassel, like the top-knot of a Poland chicken. 

Italy and Greece are also the lands of the olive as well as the 
vine. We were hardly ever out of sight of olive trees. They 
were growing in the rich valleys, and up among the rocks on the 
mountain side. Great portions of the country, especially the 
mountainous parts, resembled California very much. Here are 
millions of people who live largely off the proceeds of their vines 
and olive trees, while we have millions of acres that would grow 
the olive, especially, to greater perfection. Ripe olives are used 
everywhere here. But I have never but once seen a green olive, 
such as we use, on the table. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



73 



CHAPTER V. 

Athens — Museum — ■ Acropolis — Kuins op Temple of Bacchus — Temple 
of iEscuLAPius — Temple of Minerva — The Parthenon — Temple of 
Mysteries — Wine-press — Temple of the Winds — King George's 
Palace — Corinth — St. Paul. 

ATHENS. 

We reached Athens on Friday, just at dark. Our first visit 
was to the Museum. It would take a volume to describe even 
the most interesting things in this Museum. 

Greece will allow any proper person to make excavations among 
her ruined cities, but will not allow them to take any archaeo- 
logical discovery away. It must be put in this Museum, whose 
doors are open to all. Copies or casts may be made, but the 
original must remain here. 

Dr. Schliemann, a German archaeologist, made some of the 
richest and most valuable discoveries, — discoveries rich in gold 
— and they are all here to-day. The people of Athens showed 
their appreciation of his work by erecting one of the most beauti- 
ful monuments to his memory at the entrance of their city ceme- 
tery. It is of white marble, with the most delicate and beautiful 
chiseling. 

Among other things in the Museum are a number of vases, 
found in the graves of the heroes of Marathon. Many of these 
vases were broken, but perfectly restored by placing the pieces 
together and holding them with plaster of Paris. 

There were fragments of the skeletons of soldiers who fell in a 
battle between the Athenians and Macedonians, 300 B. C. I was 
impressed with the perfect preservation of the teeth. 

It is astonishing what numbers of pure gold ornaments were 
found in many of the graves. In one case there was a mask of 
gold lying over the face; large cups and vases of gold, and any 
amount of small ornaments, such as rings set with jewels, and 
figures of birds and animals. But, to me, one of the most remark- 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



able objects in the Museum was from Egypt. It was the figure 
of a kneeling woman kneading bread in a tray, made of one piece 
of wood. This was made three thousand years before Christ, and 
was in a perfect state of preservation. The pose was most life- 
like. I think it was made of a piece of sycamore. 

In the afternoon we visited the Acropolis. It is on the summit 
of a -very high hill, and evidently was once in the very heart of 
Athens. The ruins on and about this hill are wonderful in their 
extent and interest. On one side is the Temple of Bacchus, 
called by the Athenians Diouysos.' In one end are great slabs of 
white marble, on which, in bas-relief, is Bacchus, with his beastly 
face, surrounded by clusters of grapes, dancing figures of nymphs, 
and other symbols of drunkenness and revelry. It is said that 
here was the beginning of the theater. The country people came 
in to bring their offering to Bacchus, who, as they thought, had 
blessed their vines, and simple plays were gotten up for their 
entertainment. Ranged around the platform are circular seats of 
marble, rising one above another. It is wonderful how well pre- 
served these seats are. They would do to use now. In no coun- 
try of the world is marble so perfect and so plentiful as here and 
in Italy. And in no country are statues so abundant as here. 
They are in, around, and often upon, every church and public 
building, in all the hotels, and in very many private houses. In 
all the buried cities, the}' have been dug up by scores. And even 
in the graveyards of the present day, statues abound. 

Hard-by the Temple of Bacchus, on the same side of the 
Acropolis, is the Temple of iEsculapius. Here were the rooms 
for the sick and disabled, who came to him for healing. An im- 
mense drain led from these rooms to the Ilissus River, not far off, 
showing that this first great doctor of the Greeks used much water 
in his practice. And some of the cures reported of him evinced 
a strong element of faith, showing that our Christian scientists 
and faith healers were anticipated by this celebrated Greek physi- 
cian, who flourished and plied his art long before Christ, and who 
was deified for his skill and humbuggery. 

The Acropolis towers above the city of Athens, and is crowned 
by the ruins of splendid temples and other public edifices. I feel 
that I am totally inadequate to describe even the ruins of this 
renowned hill. Take, for instance, the Temple of Minerva, some 



My Trip to the Orient. 



77 



of the columns of which are yet standing. Originally, there were 
seventeen on each side and eight on the ends. Those standing 
were fluted. At the base they were six feet two inches in diameter. 
The area of the building inclosed by these columns was 227 feet 
by 110 feet. The main room held the statue of Minerva, forty 
feet in height, made of ivory and gold. The frieze round the tem- 
ple was 554 feet, on which were chiseled figures in white marble, 
representing scenes in the history of Greece, where Minerva was 
supposed to have helped them. 

To the southwest from the main building is the Temple of Ap- 
teros, or " Wingless Victory," — the meaning was, that the victory 
of the Athenians was to be perpetual. Being wingless, it could 
not fly from them. In this temple, Athene, who was the 
goddess of Athens, was worshiped as the Goddess of Victory. 
This temple is in quite a good state of preservation, owing, I 
think, to the fact, incidentally related to us by the guide, that 
while the Acropolis was in possession of the Turks in later years, 
they made a powder-magazine of the Temple of Minerva. A well- 
directed shell from the enemy exploded the magazine, and 
wrecked the main building. This little temple was detached 
from the main building, hence did not receive the shock of this 
explosion. This, however, is a mere conjecture of mine, on view- 
ing the situation. 

On this hill, Greece seems to have lavished both her wealth and 
her skill. The Parthenon, that crowned it, must have been the 
grandest building either in ancient or in modern times. Enough 
has been left, taken with the descriptions given by those who saw 
it in its perfection, to form a very correct idea of its form and its 
beauty. It was erected by Pericles, 444-436 B. C, and cost twenty- 
five million dollars, in our money. The architects were Callicrates 
and Ictinus; the sculptors, Pheidias and his pupils. The building 
was 227 by 110 feet. The Doric columns were six feet two inches 
in diameter at the base and thirty-four feet in height. When we 
remember the history that marks this building, we wonder that 
there is a trace of the original structure left. Standing on the 
top of this high hill, where it has, as we are told, been shaken by 
earthquakes, rent by lightning, torn by explosions, robbed by the 
unscrupulous, changed by superstitious Christians into a church, 
by fanatical Moslems into a mosque, exposed to the burning heat 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



of the sun, and drenched by the rains of heaven, how could a 
remnant of it have survived? And yet here it is; and we, more 
than two thousand years after its erection, walk amid its broken 
columns and shattered friezes, and look up with wonder at shafts 
of marble, chiseled by hands that have been moldering in the 
grave for more than a score of centuries, still standing where 
they placed them, with scarcely a trace of their beauty gone. 

We look far off to a mountain in the east, and see a scar gleam- 
ing in the setting sun on its side, and are told that that is the 
quarry whence all this wealth of architecture and sculpture came. 
For ages, men have been digging into the heart of this mountain, 
fashioning its hard, snowy treasure into columns and figures that 
have adorned all Greece, and been sent round the world. And 
yet it is not exhausted. When we had satisfied ourselves with 
looking at the broken glory at our feet, we went to the side of the 
Acropolis, that hangs above the present city of Athens, and from 
whose summit all of ancient Athens was visible. The sun, that 
had been riding in splendor all day, was drawing the drapery of 
the clouds about him, weaving them into golden fleeces about 
his form, and spreading them as a glory about his brow ere he 
pillowed his head in the sea, that rocked and tossed beneath him, 
pushed aside his veil and bathed the mountain sides and all 
the city of Athens in a subdued, softened light, that not only 
glorified the scene, but awakened memories of the past, and shot 
its golden rays along the corridors of time, revealing scenes more 
glorious even than the enchanting splendors that lay as a living 
picture beneath us. Greece, sunny, classic Greece, with her 
scholars, her statesmen, her orators, her language, chosen by our 
Lord and Master as the vehicle through which, in these last times, 
to speak to his beloved, all passed in review in that magic scene. 
To the left was Mars' Hill, and on it stood the great Apostle to 
the Gentiles, sweeping the horizon of the world with his vision, 
looking up to the very throne of the Eternal, with one hand 
pointing above, the other spread out over earth and heaven, with 
his back to the Parthenon and his face to Calvary, exclaiming 
with the voice of an archangel: "God, that made the world and 
all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, 
dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshiped 
with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth 



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81 



to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one 
blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, 
and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds 
of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they 
might feel after him. and find him, though he be not far from 
every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our 
being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are 
also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of 
God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, 
or silver, or stone graven by art and man's device." 

Under this burning eloquence, all the glory of Athens faded; 
the splendid image of Minerva, towering above all others, gleam- 
ing in ivory and gold, with the votive offerings of kings, warriors, 
and statesmen piled around it. with fluted columns and fretted 
frieze, white as the snows of Parnassus, above and around it, be- 
came a stiff and senseless block, not worth as much as the soil 
on which it, motionless, stood. 

Paul, the stranger, who was only waiting for his friends, and 
who had been led to this hill, that he might tell these worshipers 
of idols the new and thrilling doctrine of life through Christ and 
the resurrection, was now the central figure of that scene. All 
earthly glory faded, all idols with their temples crumbled into 
dust and ruins at his feet, while the crucified, the risen Jesus of 
Nazareth, now the Sun of righteousness, the Lord of all, rose 
in splendor on the broad horizon of the world's hopes, thrilled all 
hearts and lit with its splendors the gloomy chambers of the 
dead. Athens, bathed in the tinted light of the setting sun, faded 
from the vision, and the "great city, the holy Jerusalem, descend- 
ing out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: . . . and 
her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper 
stone, clear as crystal." And my heart exclaimed, ''Amen. 
Even so come, Lord Jesus." 

ATHENS. — ( Continued . ) 

Very close to the Acropolis is Mars' Hill, rendered immortal by 
the wonderful sermon preached by Paul as he waited at Athens 
for his friends and companions. It is now but a rough, bare 
rock, denuded of all its soil, with not a vestige of a house left 



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upon it, if there ever was any. Not only so, but there are no 
houses, or even ruins, round about it. The wash and change of 
this country is marvelous. I often wondered how it is that whole 
cities have been buried ten, fifteen, twenty feet deep, and that 
it requires the spade and cart of the archaeologist to unearth 
them. But I have seen enough to fully satisfy my mind that 
this is done in most instances by the rains washing the soil from 
the mountains. At Corinth, I saw the clearest exemplification of 
this. 

Below Mars' Hill is the market-place, where Paul, before being 
taken to the Areopagus, disputed with them daily. We walked 
through this market-place, that has been covered with earth for 
ages, and had pointed out to us the stalls and stores where the 
busy multitudes then talked and traded. God has kept locked 
xip in this earthly treasure-house — much of it the soil washed 
irom Mars' Hill — not only the stores, but the record of the fact 
that here the superstitious Athenians assembled and spent their 
time "in telling or hearing some new thing." Many of the cus- 
toms of these people, while in a measure modified, have come 
down to the present, unchanged. Night after night I stood on 
the balcony of our hotel and looked out upon a scene I never 
"witnessed before. There is a plaza in front of the hotel, and as 
the evening comes on, long rows of small, round, iron tables are 
set out, and chairs set by them. As the shadows of evening 
gather, the crowds gather with them, until thousands are seated 
round the tables, where diminutive cups of coffee, and glasses of 
water, and in a few instances wine, are served them. And there 
they sit, and talk, and discuss matters until late at night. There 
is a music-stand in the midst, and eight or ten musicians dis- 
course sweet music until a late hour of the night. The crowds 
come and go all the time. I walked out in the midst of them 
several times and found them very quiet and orderly. I could 
not understand a word that was spoken. "It was Greek to me." 
But I have no doubt the very scene that I looked upon was wit- 
nessed by the Apostle Paul. Our little company, nearly if not 
all of them Christians, gathered around on the rocky brow of 
Mars' Hill and listened to the reading of Paul's sermon by 
Brother Pepper. It, with many other things, had a new mean- 
ing to me. Just above them was the most magnificent temple in 



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85 



all Greece. The columns, and frieze, and architrave that now lie 
in broken fragments on this storm-torn mountain were then all 
in their places, rich in all the splendor of art and man's device, 
glittering in the sunlight as if the hill were a crown of alabaster, 
challenging not only the admiration but the worship of men. 
Within that temple stood the crowned statue of Minerva, made 
of ivory and gold, sparkling in the splendors of diamonds and 
rubies and other precious and costly gems. Then right about 
him were the seats of the judges, who invested themselves and 
their courts with all that pomp and paraphernalia well calculated 
to strike awe into the minds of the culprits brought before them. 
We were told as we sat there, that the custom was to hold the 
courts only at night, and with no other light than that of the 
moon. The criminal sat facing the judges and the moon, while 
the judges themselves sat in the shadows. There was no cover- 
ing to this place of judgment, so Paul stood beneath the open 
sky. Before and below him was the market-place. Beyond that, 
the city, with its tens of thousands of busy multitudes rushing 
here and there in the throb and beat of life. Turning to his left, 
he could see the restless, surging sea; to his right, the Stadium, 
with its circling seats for eighty thousand spectators to the races 
and wrestling-matches. Near-by, he could see the gleaming tomb- 
stones, marking the site of the city of the dead; and round 
about it all, like a rampart, the environing mountains lifted their 
giant forms; and above all the blue empyrean, maybe flecked 
here and there with a passing cloud. 

All this, and more, was about this great Apostle to the Gentiles 
as he stood on Mars' Hill. Was it not enough to "stir his 
spirit " ? He had " encountered the philosophers of the Epicureans 
and of the Stoics"; had listened to their babblings, and vain, un- 
satisfying reasonings. And now they had taken him to this 
place of judgment, and stood waiting about him to hear what he 
would say. His teachings were different from theirs, and they 
"would know, therefore, what these things mean." They who 
" spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear 
some new thing" were now waiting before him. With a master 
hand he touched that on which they prided themselves most, — 
their devotion to their gods. The streets of their city were lined 
with their gods, and temples and shrines crowned every available 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



point; and that they might leave out no divinity, they had 
erected an altar "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD." This he takes 
as his text, claiming to be to them a revealer of this unknown 
God, — Him "whom ye ignorantly worship declare I unto you." 
Pointing, not to the Acropolis crowned with its temple made with 
hands, the glory of all Greece, and wonder of the world, but to 
the heavens above, the blue sea, and the mountains, and the 
plain, he exclaimed, " God that made the world and all things 
therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not 
in temples made with hands [pointing to that before them]; 
neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed any- 
thing [such as the gifts piled about the image of Minerva], seeing 
he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things: and hath made 
of one blood all nations of men [pointing to the representatives 
of all nations before him], for to dwell on all the face of the earth, 
and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds 
of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they 
might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from 
every one of us; for in him we live, and move, and have our be- 
ing [even this you know]; as certain also of your own poets have 
said, 'For we are his offspring.' Forasmuch then as we are 
the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is 
like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device 
[such as occupy your temples, even the material of which was 
made by God]. And the times of this ignorance God winked at, 
[he brings it home to them with all authority]; but now com- 
mandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed 
a day [not night, beneath the moon's light, as individual culprits 
come], in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that 
man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance 
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." 

Judge all men, not only the living, but the dead. The sleepers 
in yon graveyard should rise, and stand before this Judge, no 
one hiding in the shadow, no one overlooked. 

The impression was deep and pungent; and although some re- 
ferred the matter to another day, saying, "We will hear thee 
again of this matter," yet "certain men clave unto him, and be- 
lieved; among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite [the very 
ruler of the temple that overshadowed them], and a woman 
named Damaris, and others with them." 



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Henceforth, Mars' Hill, though naked, and bare, and washed, 
and changed, will be a new place to me. 

From the Acropolis we could see the island of Salamis, girt by 
the sea, on whose waters one of the most celebrated battles of 
Grecian history was fought, — the battle of Salamis. 

Xerxes with his millions had invaded Greece, and seemed ready 
to overrun and with his sheer numbers crush this little nation 
that filled the world with its learning. 

We afterwards pass through the waters on which the six hun- 
dred ships of the great Persian were overpowered by the three 
hundred of the Greeks. We had pointed out to us the point of 
land overlooking the whole, where the great leader of the largest 
army the world has ever seen sat and saw his hopes go down in 
remediless ruin, his proud ships wrecked and burned, and his 
army utterly demoralized. 

Near Mars' Hill is another noted place. It is the rocky forum 
or platform on which Demosthenes stood and delivered one of 
his most celebrated orations. We visited this memorable place, 
and Brother Pepper, inspired by the memories of this mighty 
orator of the past, stood, and in rotund accents repeated part of 
that other great oration, — 

" You 'd scarce expect one of my age 
To speak in public on the stage. 
If I should chance to fall below 
Demosthenes or Cicero," etc. 

He did not even neglect to speak with pebbles in his mouth, 
Miss Anna Scales furnishing him with the latter, that he might 
be a real Demosthenes. 

Not a great way from this point is a prison hewn in the solid 
rock, in which, we are told, Socrates drank the deadly hemlock. 
In the largest chamber is a circular opening at the top, to let in 
the light. 

But as everything round about this renowned hill has been 
changed, not only by its changing fortunes, both in a political 
and religious aspect, even the elements have slowly but surely 
changed the physical features of the hill. Almost every vestige 
of what man had placed upon it, and the very earth that once 
clothed it in beauty, have been swept away, leaving but a bare, 
grinning skeleton of rocks. Thus we can no more form a correct 



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idea of its appearance when Minerva's Temple gleamed upon its 
summit, and Paul lit it with the glory of the gospel, than we can 
of the few moldering bones of the soldiers of Marathon, on which 
we gazed the day before in the Museum. 

ATHENS. — (Continued.) 

From the Acropolis one can see the new walls of the Stadium, 
being built with the money left by M. Georges Averoff (one mil- 
lion dollars). Here is where the Olympian games were celebrated. 
This spot was selected by Lycurgus, 350 B. C. 

These games were celebrated at another point until Lycurgus 
made the change. Two parallel hills, joined at the upper part, 
formed the groundwork of the Stadium. Around on these hills, 
seats were built, making an amphitheater very much the shape 
of an elongated horseshoe. It covers an area of 80,000 square 
yards. It is 854 feet long, and will seat 70,000 people. 

The building of the present seats is of the most substantial 
character. All are of white marble, built against the solid hills, 
and rising one above the other in regular order. In clearing 
away the debris, they found the old starting-post, — a marble 
column eight or ten feet high, with two faces looking in opposite 
directions. This they have set up as a starting-post again. The 
design is to restore the old Olympian games. Between the Sta- 
dium and the Acropolis stand the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter 
Olympus, said to be the second largest ruin in Athens. It was 
commenced 500 B. O. but not completed until A. D. 126. Thir- 
teen columns are still standing. They are of the Corinthian 
order, and are fifty-four feet high. A few years ago, one of these 
columns was blown down by a storm, revealing the manner of their 
construction. They are composed of sections, or drums, some five 
or six feet in length, fitted one upon the other with such accuracy 
that one can with difficulty, even at this age, discover the joints. 

A most interesting day was spent in a trip to the Temple of 
Mysteries, some fifteen or twenty miles from Athens. This was 
the objective point for the racers and combatants of the Olympian 
games. A torchlight procession was formed after night, and 
marched all the way to this temple. The road to this temple was 
called the " Sacred Way." Midway, they passed the Temple of 



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Daphne (Apollo's), also those of Ceres and Venus. Near these 
ruins a part of the road is shown, which is in a fine state of pres- 
ervation. Near the Temple of Daphne is the Grove of the 
Nymphs, composed wholly of pines. 

The ruins of the Temple of Mysteries cover several acres of 
ground. A part of the wall, built in the eleventh century before 
Christ, is still in existence. 

There is also a circular well near the Temple of Pluto, ; — part 
of the Temple of Mysteries. It was down this well that Proser- 
pine is said to have descended to the regions of Pluto. At this 
temple those who were entitled to them were initiated into the 
Mysteries. 

Near the site of this temple, iEschylus, one of the earliest of 
the Greek tragedians, was born. He it was who wrote "Prome- 
theus Bound." 

One of the finest pictures in Athens, I saw in King George's 
Palace, representing Prometheus bound upon the rocks. One 
can almost see him writhing upon his flinty bed. 

While near this temple we witnessed a primitive scene. Two 
men and two boys, in bare feet, with their pants rolled up to their 
knees, "treading the wine-press." The press consisted of a room 
eight feet square, in the rock. The floor inclined to one side, in 
which was an opening for the escape of the juice. Several bushels 
of grapes were thrown into this press, and they were in, tramping 
out the wine. It is said that no instrument has ever been in- 
vented superior to the human foot for expressing the juice of the 
grape. As we approached it, the men and boys tramped and 
pranced all over the mass, the juice squirting from under their 
feet, and coming up from between their toes with a slushy noise 
that was very suggestive of a delightful drink. One of the boys 
ran and got a glass, and when the luscious stream was running- 
through a basket to strain it of its impurities, he filled it and 
handed it to me. But I was n't thirsty. And being a strong 
temperance man, I handed it to the young ladies. They also re- 
fused. Strange how particular some people are. One of the 
boys, after being out a while, jumped in again without the for- 
mality of even wiping his feet. But I suppose he thought that 
was n't necessary, as the skins and juice would soon cleanse them 
after he got in. 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



The best-preserved temple in Greece is the Temple of Theseus, 
built 460 B. C. It is near where Paul saw the altar "To the Un- 
known God." Here the victors were given an olive branch and 
a vase of oil from the sacred olive tree. This tree was guarded 
with reverence. The penalty of death was awarded any one who 
should cut the smallest branch from it. This tree was sacred to 
Minerva. Near this temple was the double gate. In entering 
the city, one had to pass this double gate. Xo doubt Paul passed 
through this gate, and looked upon the tombs near it, some of 
them dating back to 600 B. C. The figures in bas-relief on these 
old tombs were very fine and well preserved. One covered the 
graves of Pomphela and sister, who were of high birth, and once 
had the honor of weaving the robe of Minerva. These robes were 
renewed once in five years. It took more than a year to make 
one. When the clay came to place it on the image, it was taken 
in great pomp to the entrance of the temple. There it was placed 
in the hands of a man, a boy, and a woman, who entered the 
temple and placed it on the figure. 

The Tower of the Winds was particularly interesting to me, be- 
cause of its scientific nature. It is comparatively a small build- 
ing. Octagonal in shape, facing the cardinal and semi-cardinal 
points of the compass, every fagade is adorned with a figure, in 
bas-relief, representing a wind. These figures are in a fine state 
of preservation. The top of the building was surmounted by a 
brass Triton, which revolved, and showed the direction of the 
wind by a wand held in his hand. In the center of the tower 
was a clepsydra, or water-clock. It was fed from a fountain on 
the Acropolis, and lines are chiseled on the stone to show the 
time. This tower was built 35 B. C. 

We visited the palace of King George of Greece. The building 
is plain, but substantial, and very chaste in its ornamentation. 

We were taken through the three great ball-rooms, the main 
one with five immense chandeliers. As they were covered, we 
could not see the workmanship. We were conducted first into 
the Queen's reception-rooms. All the furniture was upholstered 
in light-colored silk. We were shown the stand in which bread 
and salt is placed for the guests, according to a Russian custom. 
The Queen is a Russian. 

We next visited the King's reception-room. This was up- 



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holstered in red. The throne was but a large chair, set under a 
rich canopy at one side of the room. Some of the paintings about 
the palace were very fine. 

CORINTH. 

Corinth was not on our programme, but Brother Pepper and I 
planned a trip to this, to us intensely interesting, city. It is per- 
haps fifty or more miles from Athens, and is reached by rail. A 
new Corinth has sprung up at the railroad station, which is about 
an hour's drive from the site of the old city. 

In crossing the Isthmus of Corinth we passed over the ship- 
canal that was cut some fifteen years ago. Nero planned to make 
this improvement, and actually began the work. His excavations 
were found by the engineers who surveyed this one. It is a very 
fine piece of work. We took a carriage at the station and drove 
over to the site of the old city. A little straggling village of tile- 
covered mud huts stood upon the debris that lay on the lower 
part of this once famous city. As we stood and looked at the 
smooth surface of the hills that sloped to the sea, it was impos- 
sible to conceive that beneath this twenty or thirty feet of earth 
lay the ruins of this "Eye of Commerce," as one of the ancient 
historians called it. But the bare rocks of the great mountain 
that stood above it spoke eloquently of how they were disrobed 
of all their soil, that now covered like a thick mantle home, and 
street, and palace, that lay pulseless beneath it. A few years ago r 
Dr. Richardson, an American, began explorations on the site of 
Corinth. He had read carefully a book written by Pausanias be- 
fore the time of Christ. This book described most accurately all 
points of interest in the city. He described the Temple of Apollo, 
and the relation of other places and buildings to it. When the 
earth from the mountains came sweeping down, it covered all the 
city, but left seven columns of this temple standing part of the way 
above the surface. Centuries, in their slow march, went by, and 
clothed the soil that lay above the dead city with verdure. Shep- 
herds drove their flocks, and pitched their tents above it. They 
even drilled holes in the classic marble pillars of the Temple of 
Apollo, in which to place their tent-poles while watching their 
flock. The simple husbandman built his hut and planted the 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



olive and the vine over scenes of wealth and glory, and knew it 
not. The waves of the sea still lapped the shore, and the winds 
blew as of yore, but no vessels came and went, laden with the 
commerce of the East. Corinth was dead and buried, and the 
only visible monument to mark its grave were the fragments of 
seven broken pillars of the Temple of Apollo. 

Pausanias in his old book said, so many paces east of the Temple 
of Apollo is the broad roadway that leads from the sea to the Pro- 
pylaea. Here Dr. Richardson sunk his first shaft in his search for 
Corinth. His faith and perseverance were rewarded by striking, in 
due time, the marble pavement of this way. For months he toiled 
on until a large section of the street was uncovered. It was in a 
perfect state of preservation. The street itself is twenty-four feet 
wide, with sidewalks raised some eight or ten inches, of between 
eight and nine feet, making the whole over forty feet in width. 

Pausanias spoke of a fountain so many paces to the east of this 
way. Dr. Richardson found this, too, with two perfectly pre- 
served bronzed lions' heads as outlets for the water. He cleaned 
out the fountains, and after some search found the original stream 
of water, which he had conveyed to the little village below; and 
from this fountain we drank. The water was pure and good. 

The site of the Temple of Apollo was then exhumed. The 
building originally had forty-two columns, and from its com- 
manding location must have been very beautiful. Near it he un- 
earthed the Fountain of Glauce. This fountain is of great size, 
and has four departments, all hewn in the solid rock of the moun- 
tain side. The water, in entering each chamber, was shot from 
the mouth of a bronze lion's head. The stream that fed these 
fountains has not yet been discovered. An interesting legend 
connected with this fountain was related to us by our intelligent 
and well-read guide. 

Jason, who stole the golden fleece from Colchis in Asia Minor, 
was assisted by Medea. (While on the Bosphorus, a week later, 
we had the place where Jason and Medea crossed that strait into 
Europe pointed out to us.) They went to Thessaly. There they 
had two children born to them. After this, Jason took the 
two children and went to Corinth, where he fell in love with 
Glauce, King Crayon's daughter. But Medea followed him, and 
begged of the king to see him. At first refused, she asked the 



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privilege of seeing and kissing her children. Jason brought them 
out to her. She then besought him to give up the idea of marry- 
ing Glauce, and still remain true to her. She appealed to him 
by the memory of her former devotion and sacrifice for him. 
She called to his mind that she had assisted him in securing the 
golden fleece, and to prevent her father from following them she 
had killed and cut to pieces her own brother. But he was deaf 
to her entreaties, and married Glauce. Then she sent Glauce a 
finely wrought bridal robe, but poisoned it. When the bride put 
it on, the pain of the poison became so intolerable, that she went 
to the great fountain of Corinth, and throwing herself in, was 
drowned. From thenceforth it was known as the fountain of 
Glauce. The citizens of Corinth murdered the two children of 
Medea, and they were buried near the fountain. Two pine trees 
stand over their graves. Dr. Richardson has been so successful 
in following the directions of Pausanias, that he says his next 
search shall be for these graves. 

This fountain, Pausanias tells us, reaches back into mytho- 
logical times. The legend we have given is related by Euripides, 
who quoted it from the writings of Homer. 

Dr. Richardson expected to find some rare and beautiful works 
of art in the form of statues, etc., but has been disappointed so 
far, although he has uncovered but a very small part of the great 
city, but he thinks he has exhumed the most important buildings. 
When we remember that this proud city was first shaken down 
by an earthquake, then despoiled of its treasures of building and 
art by ruthless hands, that built and adorned other cities with 
the spoil of this one, and that for ages the winds and rains have 
been wrapping its earthly winding-sheet about it, it is no wonder 
that its chambers are bare and its beauty destroyed. 

But we were more interested with Paul's connection with this 
city than in its present ruins, or even its former architectural 
grandeur. He was here when its streets were busy with commerce, 
and the houses were full of people; when her idols were honored 
and her temples echoed to the tread of multiplied thousands of 
worshipers; when the knowledge of the true God was only treasured 
in the obscure synagogues of the Jews; when death was a terror, 
and the grave looked upon as an impassable gulf between the living 
and the dead; when funerals cast a pall upon heart as well as bier; 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



when corruption and vice were at a. premium, and debauchery ran' 
riot. Then it was that this stranger of another nation, without a 
herald to declare his coming, and without prestige, arrived alone 
with the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, — the religion that 
taught the folly of all their worship, breaking with a single stroke 
both their idols and their temples, — threw himself into the sur- 
ging tide, not to sweep on with it, but to arrest it, to cleanse it of 
its impurity and corruption. 

All the wisdom, all the learning, and all the wealth of that 
great city had been lavished upon their temple and their worship, 
and now all this was to give way under the "foolishness of 
preaching." While before him was a crucified, mangled man, be- 
neath him was a despoiled grave, a ruined empire, — the empire 
of darkness, — above him was the opening heavens, and the Lord 
God of heaven and earth spake in tones of love, declaring himself 
as their God and Father, their Redeemer, and their Friend, their 
Comforter and Guide; for to those who accepted him he was 
"wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption." 

He spoke, but his "speech and preaching was not with enticing 
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and 
of power." He touched on all the points, even of their private 
life, overthrowing all corruption and uncleanness, and setting up 
in their stead purity, fellowship, and love. He took hold of the 
tenderest ties of the human heart and entwined them about the 
cross of Christ, ennobling and beautifying them. He tenderly 
laid his hand in the hand of the sorrow-stricken and bereaved, 
led them out to the graves of their loved ones, and told them of 
the resurrection, until their sorrow was turned into joy, and they 
went away to comfort others with the same blessed words. 

There was not a phase of human life, in time or eternity, upon 
which he did not turn the glorious light of the gospel, which was 
"the power of God, and the wisdom of God." But this was not 
to be effected in a day. The momentum of sin, corruption, and 
idolatry was too great to be arrested at once. Night and day, 
and from house to house, the work went on for a year and six 
months, until Corinth shone as one of the fairest jewels in the 
crown of the Redeemer. 

I could not but call up these scenes in the life of Paul as I 
walked where he had trod, and looked upon the wrecks of buildings 
that he had seen in their glory. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



97 



As I wandered over these deserted ruins, and later, as in the 
cities of Asia Minor, as well as in Greece and Italy, and saw the 
cloud that rests on all these lands, and heard the call to prayers 
from the minarets, where Christ is forgotten, I asked, Was all of 
Paul's labor lost? And had a moral debris covered the beautiful 
church of Jesus Christ forever from the pure light of heaven? 
and will no faithful, loving hand remove the pall, and let the 
living light of heaven fall once more upon it? 

Paul is gone, Corinth is no more, but while darkness may cover 
this land, and gross darkness this people, yet the Sun of 
Righteousness still shines, and in the far West he bathes the 
nations in a flood of light, and Paul, through his epistles, written 
originally to churches now dead and buried, cheers and comforts 
multiplied millions of the devout followers of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. The prophet, when he heard a voice saying, "Cry," 
turning his eye aloft, asked, "What shall I cry?" and the answer 
came, " All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower 
of grass. The grass withereth, and the flowers thereof falleth 
away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever." 

So God's word shall not return — -has not returned — to him void, 
and lands that are afar off rejoice in the glorious light. And as the 
sun sweeps round the world, enlightening every land, may we not 
look for the glory of God to follow on, until this land, once the 
cradle of the Church, and this people, once his peculiar treasure, 
become his again? 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Constantinople — Dogs — Policemen — Fiee Department — Museum ■ — 
Mosque of St. Sophia — Howling Dervishes — The Sultan — Smyrna 
— Grave op Polycarp — Beirut — Baalbek — Abana River — A 
Syrian Wedding. 

CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Leaving Athens in an Austrian steamer, we were soon sweep- 
ing up the iEgean Sea, among the islands of the Grecian Archi- 
pelago, many of which mark epochs and instances memorable in 
mythology as well as in actual history. As we threaded the Dar- 
danelles, the site of ancient Troy, so long lost to history, but re- 
cently brought to light by the spade of the archaeologist, was 
pointed out to us. We could scarcely realize that a spot now not 
differing from the long line of coast on which it lay, with neither 
castle, moat, nor wall to mark it from the rest, was the scene of 
such a siege as it endured, and was the scene of one of the great- 
est epics of the world of literature. There, in the Hellespont, 
we saw where Leander courageously swam it, and in later years, 
when Lord Byron would weave his daring deed in verse that 
was to immortalize his name, to prove that the deed was not 
impossible, performed the feat himself. 

On Sunday morning early we reached Constantinople, the 
capital of the Turkish Empire, and the residence of the Sultan. 
We soon reached our hotel, having had our passports carefully 
passed through the hands of the proper authorities, and our bag- 
gage examined by the custom-house officers. After a hasty toilet 
we were conducted by our guide to the English church, where we 
listened to a service of over an hour and a sermon of twelve 
minutes. The rest of the day I spent in my room. In the 
evening, our little party gathered in one of our rooms, and we 
had a service of our own. I preached as best I could, and our 
hearts were greatly comforted. We felt the presence of the Com- 
forter as we worshiped in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

This is a great city of over one million inhabitants. It lies on 



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both sides of what is known as the Golden Horn, which is a spur 
of the Bosphorus, running nearly at right angles from the strait. 
The mountains, or, rather, high hills, rise on each side the Golden 
Horn, and the city is built on these slopes. It would be hard to 
find a more beautiful and picturesque location for a great city. 
One side is called Constantinople-Pera, and the other Constanti- 
nople-Stamboul. Nearly, if not all, the foreigners, the ambassa- 
dors, consuls, and legations live in Pera. But the city is not 
confined to the two sides of the Golden Horn, but far up the 
Bosphorus, to the Black Sea, a distance of eight or more miles, 
the shore is lined with houses, that reach back to the very sum- 
mit of the hills. This is called Galata. While across the strait, 
on the Asia Minor side, is Scutari, lining all the shore, and reach- 
ing far back into the country. 

The Bosphorus, which is the strait that connects the Sea of 
Marmora with the Black Sea, is a most beautiful sheet of water, 
a mile or two wide, not running in a straight line, but meandering 
in the most picturesque and beautiful manner. Upon its waters 
lie all sorts of craft, from the battle-ships with their frowning 
guns, the great sea-going iron steamers with their crowds of pas- 
sengers, the pleasure-yachts with their trim and graceful propor- 
tions, to the hundreds of sloops, brigs, yawls, and all the lesser 
craft. There is never a moment when some of these vessels are 
not gliding across its silvery surface, presenting a picture of life 
and animation most charming. 

Two immense iron bridges span the Golden Horn, that are 
crowded from early morn till late at night. A footman is charged 
one cent, in our money, for crossing this bridge, and I never was 
on it, that there were not from five hundred to a thousand rush- 
ing, jostling, and pushing one way or the other. I was told that 
the revenue from one of these bridges was one thousand dollars 
per day. 

All the Turks wear a small vizorless red cap or fez. Standing 
at one end of the bridge, you see one restless, tossing sea of red 
caps in view. 

Here and there in the moving mass is a wagon, a carriage, or 
a loaded donkey. But more numerous than all, there are men 
with burdens on their back that would load a horse. I never saw 
men bear such burdens. I saw one man with his body bent 
LofC. 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



parallel with the ground, moving in a brisk walk with a good- 
sized sofa, two upholstered and two common chairs piled up on 
his back; another with a thirty-six-gallon barrel full of some 
sort of liquor on his; another with a large basket with about 
twentj r good-sized watermelons on his, and another small basket, 
with three in it, carried swung before him; another with a large 
wardrobe; another with a spring bed, etc. They have a sort of 
leather cushion, something like a soldier's knapsack, resting on 
the small of the back, and on this they pile the load. These 
burden-bearers thread their way through the crowded narrow 
streets with a celerity that is marvelous. In Rome, Xaples, and 
Athens the ass is loaded down with baskets of grapes and other 
fruits, but here the men are the beasts of burden. They go through 
the streets crying their wares all day long. 

DOGS. 

Constantinople is noted for its dogs, not for the nobility of the 
breed, not for the color or sagacity, but for sheer numbers. In 
a short drive of fifteen or twenty minutes to the hotel, I counted 
184. One evening our party was invited to the house of a banker 
to spend the evening. On our return, in a ten-minutes' walk, 
a gentleman and I counted 190. There are said to be from 
150,000 to 180,000 in the city. They lie curled up on the side- 
walks, in the streets, — anywhere they can find a place. Xo one 
disturbs them. Everybody walks round them, even if he has to 
leave the sidewalk to do it. I am told they are regarded as sacred, 
and it is thought that in the transmigration of souls these curs 
are the receptacles of many of them. If a cabman should run 
over one, he is arrested, and must pay a fine of $1.25. 

As a general thing, they are very quiet, but some nights they 
make the welkin ring. Every dog has his range or beat. Should 
he dare go out of it into another, every dog in reach rushes upon 
him, and he has to fight for his life. If he survives the fight, 
which is not always the case, he is let alone, and may dwell in 
peace among his new friends. 

I asked our guide how these dogs lived. He said everybody 
feeds them. The hotels, instead of carting off their scraps and 
garbage, have it emptied in the streets, and it requires but a few 



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minutes for every vestige of it to disappear. I saw a man empty 
out a lot of scraps; around him were twenty-five or thirty dogs, 
and you may rest assured it was no quiet meal. 

They are born, and live, and die in the streets. They call no 
man master, and as far as I could see or learn, they know no 
man after the flesh, but are perfectly independent. 

POLICEMEN. 

Another thing that struck me was the movements of the police- 
men at night. They go through the city at night, ever and anon 
striking the pavement with a heavy club or walking-cane. This 
beat is answered in some adjoining street by a similar beat. 
Sometimes they seemed to telegraph to each other through these 
beats. Of course this custom has come down through the ages; 
and may not our term, referring to the section to which a police- 
man is confined, — his "beat," — have come from this custom? 

These Turks are behind in everything except soldiering. 
Everywhere else we have been, they have the electric light, 
especially in the hotels. Here they use candles. And their fire 
department is a curiosity. We visited the tower of Galata, 
located in the heart of the city. It is 180 feet high. We climbed 
to the top of it. I had quite an experience when I reached the 
top and stepped out on the balcony. A strong wind caught my 
hat and sent it flying through the air, and landed it on the top 
of a house far below. I never expected to get it again. But our 
guide had watched it in its flight, saw where it landed, and point- 
ing it out to one of the firemen, sent him after it. Away he went, 
and in due time we saw him mount to the tile roof and seize my 
wayward tile. One franc paid him for his trouble. But I com- 
menced to tell you about the fire department and its plan of 
operation. 

Ten or twelve men remain in this building night and day. 
One is ever at the uppermost point of the tower, that commands 
a view of the whole city. If he discovers a fire, he at once rushes 
down to the room below and announces the fact and the location 
of the fire to the department. Each member seizes a stick, 
very much like an ox-goad, some four feet long, with a lance or 
bayonet on the end of it, and with a prolonged howl goes rushing 



104 



My Trip to the Orient. 



through the street to various parts of the city to announce the 
fact to the authorities. The stick with the long goad on the end 
is to clear the way for the runner in the crowded streets. "Where 
that howl is heard and that goad is seen, everything but the dogs 
get out of the way. When the fact of the fire is duly announced, 
the engine is brought out, mounted on the shoulders of four men. 
who proceed with all haste to the fire. If it has not burned out 
by the time they get there, they proceed to put it out. if they 
can. It would be a very persistent blaze that would survive 
such treatment, and continue to burn. 

The chief of the tower-gang gave us an illustration of how the 
thing is done. He armed one of the men with a goad, and had 
him run round the large circular room with a prolonged howl 
that would have done credit to a steam-whistle. 

MUSEUM. 

Our first visit in Constantinople was to the Museum of Anti- 
quities. Here the old, the strange, and the curious have been 
gathered, especially archaeological treasures from Egypt and the 
far East. The grave holding the ashes of the dead, held sacred 
by all nations, from the untutored savage to the most learned 
and enlightened, has been, in these latter days, ruthlessly in- 
vaded, robbed of its sacred trust, and not only the coffin, but the 
grinning skeletons of the dead, have been dragged out and put on 
exhibition. These archaeologists are no respecters of persons, 
for they have unearthed all, and have displayed all, from the 
unshrouded skeletons of soldiers who died on the battle-field, 
to kings and queens, whose persons, in life, were held too sacred 
to be approached without ceremony, and whose lifeless bodies 
were laid away as sacred dust. These have been laid side by side, 
in this practical age. in which sentiment must give way to science, 
and men find and read lessons writ in the mold of death. 

W T e were shown sarcophagi from Sidon, Smyrna, and Tripoli, 
some of them said to be two thousand eight hundred years old. 
One from Babylon, of wood, covered with metal, showed marks of 
great age; another, of terra-cotta, was untouched by the tooth of 
time. There were found treasures of gold in many of the royal 
coffins. In one, side by side with human bones, were found the 



My Trip to the Orient. 



107 



heads of three dogs. What a dead man could do with dogs in 
the land of shades is not recorded. 

The sarcophagus of the King of Sidon was one bought from 
the Egyptians, and was a most elaborate and costly affair. Two 
tall candelabra and a throne captured by the Turks from the 
Persians when they overran all the East, we also found in this 
Museum. I was much interested in the ornaments of gold dug 
up from the ruins of ancient Troy by Dr. Schliemann. 

In Salonica was found a bronze statue of Jupiter, some two 
feet in height, with two rubies for eyes, as bright as the day they 
were set in the image. 

From the tomb of Alexander the Great was taken a wreath of 
pure gold, representing the laurel. In this case the brow faded, 
and crumbled back to dust, while yet the laurel wreath was fair. 
But it is not my purpose to describe this Museum. I have only 
singled out a few objects, that you may form an idea of its char- 
acter and contents. 

MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA. 

Constantinople is a city of mosques and minarets. The 
mosques are all dome-shaped, sometimes swelling up in a single 
dome, like a great bubble, amid the sea of houses; at other times 
the main dome is surrounded by half-domes on every side, that 
increase the area and yet maintain the shape desired. The min- 
arets shoot up by the side of the mosques, slender, round, and 
tall, ending in a sharp point like a well-trimmed pencil. High 
up the minaret is a sort of collar, or circular room, in which the 
man stands to call to prayers. Five times a day, from each and 
every one of these minarets, are calls to prayers made. The 
Moslem rings no bells to summon the faithful to duty, but, rain 
or shine, the long, whining cry from these human tongues floats 
over the city like an echo from the skies. Some mosques have 
but a single minaret; others have four, and even more. A few 
minutes before the hour to call, a man appears in his little aerie 
and waits the appearance of those in other minarets; for they can 
see from one to the other, and just at the proper moment the 
mellow notes come floating down from all alike. There is a faci- 
nating sweetness, that seems to fill all the air as voice mingles 
ivith voice above, and descends like interlocked notes of music 



My Trip to the Orient. 



on the ear. For several minutes the air is resonant with the 
melody of this call. Then the faithful repair to the nearest 
fountain. — many of these fountains stand near the mosques, for 
the use of the worshipers. — where they wash their faces, their 
feet, and their hands, and then go in to pray. I had formed the 
idea that the great majority of the Mohatninendans heeded this 
call to pr lyers. and. no matter how busy, would drop all and re- 
spond to the demand of Allah for devotion. But the call makes- 
scarcely a ripple on the surface of the surging, seething crowds of 
busy men in the streets. 

We first visited the Mosque of St. Sophia. Before we entered, 
large and small slippers were furnished us. according to the size 
of our feet, to be put on over our shoes, that no unhallowed 
leather of a ■'Christian dog" might touch the floor of this holy 
building. As there was no leather at the heel, and no strings to 
hold them to the foot, our party found great difficulty in keeping 
them on. and we went sliding our feet along the loose matting on 
the floor, in the most amusing way. More than once mine slipped 
off. and I stepped with unhallowed feet on the sacred floor. The 
main dome rests upon four great pillars, some twenty-four feet in 
diameter. This dome is supplemented by four half-domes, that 
rise to a lesser height, giving a most pleasing effect to the whole 
interior of the building. There are no seats in a mosque, but the 
worshipers either stand or kneel on the thick matting with which 
the stone floor is spread. 

While going through the mosque we saw several who. our guide 
told us. were learning the Koran. The learner and teacher were 
both seated on the floor, repeating in a loud sing-song voice sen- 
tence after sentence. 

This is one of the most noted mosques in the empire, and it has 
passed through many vicissitudes of fortune, and its floor has run 
red with the blood of thousands of unfortunate human beings. 

Our guide told us that at one time, when many thousands of 
Christian bodies lay piled up upon the floor, that Mohammed II 
rode in on their dead bodies, with sword in hand. and. striking" 
one of the stone pillars with his sword, leaving a great gash in the 
stone, that was shown us, said. •"The massacre must stop." He 
dashed his bloody hand against the stone wall, and left its print 
full size on the rock. He also showed us a hole in the side of a 



My Trip to the Orient. 



Ill 



marble pillar, which, he said, had holy water in it when it was a 
Christian church, but when it was converted into a mosque, the 
water dried up. When it becomes a Christian church, it will have 
water in it again. And he had each one of us to thrust our ringer 
in the hole, to see how cold it was, as evidence of the truth of his 
statement. 

Two of the pillars of this mosque were originally taken from 
the ruins of Baalbek to Rome, and then from Rome brought to 
this church. Two of them came from Jerusalem. It is wonderful 
how many of these massive pillars have been transported over 
land and sea. as the result of war changed the fortunes of empires 
and nations. 

Hanging up upon the wall of this mosque is a prayer-carpet 
1.320 years old. said to have been used by Mohammed the First. 
I estimated it as ten by twenty feet in dimensions. It may not 
have been quite so large. 

In the end of the mosque toward Mecca are two wax candles, 
said to be solid wax. eighteen feet in height, and eighteen inches 
in diameter at the base. They are lie once a year, in the month 
Ramazan. 

Hanging on the wall is a holy stone, said to have been brought 
from Mecca. It is several feet square, and highly pol.shed. Clean 
handkerchiefs are carefully rubbed over the surface of this stone 
and then crumpled up in the hand, held firmly, and taken to the 
sick, and a touch is said to heal them. vSo we see that all the 
superstition is not confined to the Christian church. 

When we took a trip up the Golden Horn, we passed a Turkish 
cemetery where tens of thousands are buried, some of them in 
vaults like rooms. In one of these, a celebrated howling dervish 
is buried. The vault has a window, facing on the street, grated 
with wire gauze with meshes half an inch in size. The whole 
surface of this window, from top to bottom, is literally frazzled 
with tiny bits of rags, and threads of garments tied there by those 
afflicted with fever, plague, or whatever ailment they may have: 
the poor, deluded creatures hoping thus to be cured of their ills 
and infirmities. These shreds are torn from their own garments, 
and tied here, in faith of healing from the dead body of this 
sainted dervish. 



112 



My Trip to the Orient. 



HOWLIXG DERVISHES. 

While speaking of the howling dervishes, let me tell you, if 
possible, of their performance as witnessed by us; for the scene 
is beyond my powers of description. The whole thing must be 
seen to be understood or appreciated. 

We took a boat and went across the Bosphorus to a town in 
Asia Minor called Scutari. We first went through the English 
Crimean cemetery, where over six thousand brave English 
soldiers, who fell in the Crimean War, are buried. Not far from 
this resting-place of the English dead, is a Turkish cemetery, 
that has been in use for ages. Tall cypress trees stand thick all 
through it. I was told that more than five millions of dead 
bodies lie in this cemetery; and as I looked at the forest of grave- 
stones that bristle like hoar frost over the hundreds of acres, and 
know that they lie buried one above another, three and four deep. 
I could well believe it. On the edge of this cemetery of the cen- 
turies are the lepers' quarters. We looked in as we passed, and 
saw men. women, and children crowded in these quarters, ex- 
cluded from all association with the outside world, as if buried 
before they were dead, right on the borders of the charnel-house, 
where dissolution will complete the work commenced in their 
rot ing bodies, before death has loosed all the bands of life. Our 
guide placed some coin on the top of a post, and called to them. 
A man came out as we drove off. and, raising a hand, from which 
the fingers had dropped, saluted him with thanks. In a few 
minutes' drive we reached the howling dervishes' quarters. It 
was a good-sized room, with a railing round two sides, some six 
feet from the wall. This space was for the spectators. On the 
side toward Mecca was something like an altar, with rugs spread 
before it. The other side was for the entrance of the dervishes. 
The floor was bare, but near the middle several sheepskins were 
spread, in two rows. Upon these kneeled six men, three on a 
side, facing each other, with the space of but a few feet between 
them. Eight men with white skull-caps on their heads stood in 
a row at the far side of the room, facing the altar. A large, very 
black negro, at least six feet four inches tall, with a loose black 
robe, and heavy turban on his head, stood near, facing them. 
Soon the six kneeling men began a low Availing chant, perfectly 



My Trip to the Orient. 115 

rhythmical in its movement, to which the eight men responded 
by swaying their bodies, first from side to side, and then back 
and forth, humming in unison to the chant of the six. At times 
they bent their bodies until their foreheads almost touched the 
floor. Then they would fairly swing their heads, first over the 
right, then over the left shoulder. This exercise became more 
and more violent, and the howl waxed louder and louder. Soon 
the big negro laid aside his black robe and his big turban, reveal- 
ing a light-colored striped robe as long as the black one, and a 
white cap like the rest. He took a position as the center of the 
row. It took but a few moments for him to work himself into a 
fever of excitement, and, negro-like, he entered the lists for all 
that was in it. His long, lithe body seemed as if made of india- 
rubber. He could throw his face to within a few degrees of where 
the back of his head ought to be, and bring it back with a swing 
that would turn it as far over the other shoulder. You could hear 
his howl above the combined notes of all the others. At times the 
howl would give place to a sort of explosive grunt as the head 
swung over the shoulder. There were a number seated on mats 
and sheepskins round the room, and they would often sway from 
side to side and join in the howl. The old sheik, or high priest, 
was moving about the altar, performing some sort of ceremony. 
The negro, especially, became more and more excited. The sweat 
rolled in rivulets down his face and neck. As he howled and 
grunted, the slobber and sweat were thrown from him until the 
gentlemen and ladies who stood immediately behind him had to 
seek another point of observation, to keep from being spattered. 
Not a moment's rest, not a moment's cessation, in the awful strain 
to which they subjected themselves. When more than half an 
hour had passed, and no respite, I asked, Can human nature bear 
up much longer under this strain? I noticed one man begin to 
grow unsteady on his legs. His howl seemed to die on his lips, 
when at last he came down on his face in a faint. Two men went 
to him, but he was unconscious. They rubbed his hands and 
arms, and after a time he opened his eyes, and groaned like a 
dying man. We could easily distinguish the noise he made from 
the louder, united howl of the others. After some minutes he 
revived sufficiently to stand up, and as soon as he was able took 
his place again in line, and resumed his exercise, but I could see 



116 



My Trip to the Orient. 



that it was feebly done. This incident did not make a ripple on 
the surface of the scene, so far as the dervishes were concerned. 
In fact, had he died it would have been looked upon as rendering 
the thing more sacred, and this man a saint. One of the nine, 
who had long, snaky hair, either accidentally or on purpose 
shook off his cap, then, as he would jerk his head forward, the 
tangled mass of hair would fall all over his face; then the next 
jerk would send it over his shoulders. He presented a most 
repulsive sight. After a time he, retired without ceremony. But 
on the others went, until one of them, who stood in front of a 
post, struck his head against it, and in the next moment he reeled 
and fell on his face with a yell that was startling. Two men took 
hold of him, and he struggled like a madman, yelling "Allah" 
at the top of his voice His face had the most demoniacal ex- 
pression I ever saw. It was positively frightful. I thought his 
mind had given way under the awful strain, and that he was a 
raving maniac. They held him for a while, when he began to 
make a noise like a dying bullock. Neither did this incident 
cause the least interruption in the ceremony. This fellow also 
calmed down, and after a while took his place in line, and again 
joined in the howl. 

In the mean time the old sheik was working with some de- 
canters of water, and some handkerchiefs and children's clothes 
that had been sent in from the sick. He walked in front of the 
line of howlers, and between the six seated on the sheepskins, and 
held up the water and clothes, and then returned to the altar. 
Two of those that had been in line, and four others, came forward 
and threw themselves on their faces as close together as they 
could lie, in front of the sheik. He deliberately stepped upon 
their prostrate bodies and walked from one to the other, on their 
hips, then, turning while standing on the last man, walked back 
on their shoulders. They then rose, reverently kissed his hand, 
and two of them fell on their knees and kissed his feet. Then 
six more came like the others and threw themselves on their 
backs before the sheik. He walked on these as he did on the 
others. One old fellow, whose head was quite gray, became ex- 
cited, and after he had been walked upon, bumped his head 
several times against the bare floor, hard enough, it seemed to 
me, to addle his brains, if he had any. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



119 



Two children, perhaps eighteen months old, were brought in, 
and when they saw the sheik, they screamed as if they would go 
into fits. One was taken out, but the other was held toward the 
sheik, who looked into its eyes, as if to charm it, but whenever 
he approached it, it would throw its head upon the man's shoulder 
and scream. 

After seeing what I did subsequently, I wondered if the old fool 
had not also walked on them, and they wanted no more of it. 
My readers may think I have used the term ■•fool''' unadvisedly. 
In a few minutes after this, four little children from six to eight 
years of age came in, and three of them lay down on the floor, and 
the old sheik deliberately stepped with all his weight on their pros- 
trate bodies and walked across them. I could see the face of one 
of them, and it had an expression of perfect terror in it. I could 
but feel sad and sick at heart, and say, " How long, Lord, shall 
this gross darkness rest upon this benighted land?" 

After nearly an hour, the line of howlers became quiet. The 
big negro, who, I was told, is a colonel in the Turkish army, sat 
down to rest, but not to cease to sweat. He pulled out an im- 
mense handkerchief and mopped away with it, but he might as 
well have tried to wipe a spring dry. He had gotten up such a 
great head of steam, that it took some time to cool his boiler. 

The next day we went to see the whirling dervishes. We did 
not see the beginning of their exercises. They were in a large 
circular room, and some nineteen were up. whirling like tops. 
They lilted their arms in a most graceful manner, and whirled 
the whole body around as steadily as if they were on a pivot. 
They wore very full white skirts, that came below the knees. 
When whirling, these skirts stood out at an angle of perhaps 
forty-five degrees or more. All were barefooted, and as the 
whole nineteen were whirling noiselessly at the same time, it 
made a very pretty sight. When the whirl was over, each one 
went to the sheik and kissed his hand. Then each passed the 
other and kissed him on the cheek, and passed out, and the show 
was over. 

THE SULTAN. 

On Friday, which is the Mohammedan Sunday, we went to see 
the Sultan of all the Turks go to his mosque to say his prayers. 



120 



My Trip to the Orient. 



The mosque is near his palace, and the event is one of great im- 
portance. Eight thousand or ten thousand soldiers turn out in 
their best uniforms. The street leading from the golden gate of 
the palace to the mosque is sprinkled with clean sand just before 
the hour for prayer. It is sprinkled its entire width, taking 
many cart-loads of sand, and just before the carriage passes 
over it, men are employed sweeping it smooth with brooms. 

We went to our point of observation more than an hour before- 
hand. Leaving our carriages at a good place from which to see 
the Sultan when he passed down the street, we walked up in front 
of the golden gate. Everything that could be done to make this 
gate beautiful has been done. An hour before twelve, — the hour 
of prayer, — the foreign ambassadors, legates, and consuls began to 
arrive, also all the generals of the Turkish army, — in fact, all the 
dignitaries of the empire who were in Constantinople were pres- 
ent. Innumerable officers in bright uniforms were passing and 
repassing for more than an hour. Then company after company, 
and regiment after regiment, came with bands and banners, until 
the air was full of music, and all a-flutter with banners and pen- 
nants, and every street was crowded with soldiers, some on foot 
and some on horseback. There was one regiment of lancers on 
horseback, each soldier bearing a long lance, from which floated 
a red Turkish pennant, triangular in shape, bearing the crescent 
and star in white. About the palace, regiment after regiment 
was massed, all in the most beautiful uniforms. In due time all 
who did not belong on the street — we were of that number — were 
ordered off. We went to our carriages, occupying a commanding 
view of that portion of the street down which the Sultan's carriage 
was to pass. One of our party had a kodak. A secret policeman 
came and had it put out of sight. No one is allowed to point 
even a cane or umbrella during the procession. Three minutes 
before twelve, a man appeared in the minaret, ready at the exact 
moment to call the faithful to prayers. At last the palace gate 
swung open. The man in the minaret gave a long, weird call in 
a sing-song tone, that reached the ear of every one, and out came 
a richly adorned carriage, bearing, we were told, the Sultan's 
mother, and some other members of the royal family. These 
were permitted to drive up to the door of the mosque, but not to 
enter. As soon as the carriage reached the door, the horses were 



My Trip to the Orient. 



123 



quickly taken from it and led away. Then came a carriage, 
made as beautiful as art could devise, groomsmen in gorgeous 
uniforms walking by the horses, on each side, with the Sultan 
seated alone on the back seat. Two officers sat in front of him. 
He wore on his head what appeared to be a red fez, or cap. As 
he passed down the street, he bowed and waved his hand several 
times to those near him. Shouts broke from the vast crowds 
of soldiery and people, that formed a solid mass in all the streets 
round about the mosque. We got a good look at His Royal 
Highness. A rich carpet was spread upon the steps of the mosque 
for the Sultan to walk upon. What was done in the inside we 
could not see, and did not know. But we thought it a great ado 
to make over one man's prayers. Every Friday this scene is 
re-enacted. 

After the Sultan entered the mosque, a saddle-horse with gilded 
trappings was led to the door to wait the pleasure of His Highness; 
for no one knows whether he will choose to return to his palace 
in his carriage or on horseback, so every preparation is made for 
any whim. We did not wait to see what he would do, but re- 
turned to our hotel, thanking God that we had been taught a 
better way, and that "God is no respecter of persons: but in 
every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is 
accept with him." 

I was struck with the dress and appearance of the soldiers, 
and said to our guide, who is himself a subject of the Sultan, 
"These soldiers must be well paid." — "No," said he; "they re- 
ceive but one medjidie [about one dollar] per month, and some- 
times they are not paid for eighteen months." — " But," I said, 
"they are well fed." — "No; very poorly. But they are loyal to 
their country, and are willing to fight and die for their Sultan." 

Such a country I have never seen. Blessed with a climate 
almost unsurpassed in the world, with much of her soil of the 
best, on the highways of commerce between the East and the 
West, with millions of people under her dominion, and yet her 
roads are rough, unworked trails running over mountain and dale, 
where they were located thousands of years ago. 

Constantinople, located on the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, 
with unsurpassed advantages, and a population of over a mil- 
lion, has only two insignificant factories, — one for the manu- 



124 



My Trip to the Orient. 



facture of glass, and the other of cotton goods. With streams of 
clear, good water all around her. they drank of the rain-water 
collected from the roofs of their houses, in cisterns, for centuries, 
until French capital put in an aqueduct and brought in an un- 
limited supply of fresh water, only a few years ago. With electric 
power at their door, and petroleum to be had for a song, the 
rooms of their best hotels are lighted with candles alone. The 
Sultan can spend tens of thousands on a parade at his weekly 
prayers, but never a dollar to improve the highways of his do- 
minion, or add to the comfort of his people. Living in splendor 
himself, with a family of two thousand wives, and with all the 
nations of Europe propping up his throne, why need he care for 
the welfare of his subjects? 

We visited the great cistern underlying the Stamboul side of 
the city, called the i; Cistern of a Thousand and One Columns." 
Our guide had a man wrap a large piece of sacking saturated 
with coal-oil round an iron rod. and. lighting this, we went down 
a series of stone steps, and by its light viewed a small section of 
the vast cavern. Long rows of stone columns stretched away 
into the darkness. A few feet of water stood above the slush and 
earth that filled the bottom to a depth of twenty-five or thirty feet. 
Parts of this vast cistern were cleared out years ago, and some 
silk-weavers established their looms; but some one reported to 
the Sultan that these poor, miserable people were making bombs, 
and they were driven out. and that part of the cistern was closed. 

The week we spent in Constantinople was crowded with inter- 
est, and at the same time my heart was often made sad at what 
I saw and heard. There is enough of truth, and even righteous- 
ness, in the Mohammedan religion to make it more difficult to 
displace it with the spiritual worship of God through Jesus Christ, 
than if they had no religion at all. Then the type of Christianity 
by which they are surrounded, with its altars, its images, its 
candles, and its venerated relics and crucifixes, its indulgences 
and its penances, put in contrast with their faith in one God and 
one prophet, makes it harder still. 

SMYRNA.— GRAVE OF POLYTCARP. 

The second day after leaving Constantinople, we reached 
Smyrna, where our ship lay for several hours, putting off and 



TOMB OF POLYCARP, SMYRNA, ASIA MINOR. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



127 



taking on cargo. We embraced the opportunity of taking a run 
on shore, and seeing what we could of this one of the cities of the 
seven churches in Asia to whom letters were sent. Learning that 
the Christian martyr Polycarp, one of the fathers, and a disciple 
of John, was buried here, we hired a carriage and drove up the 
hill that rises back of the city, and found his tomb. It is marked 
by a monument of stone, perhaps ten by rive feet, and nearly six 
feet high. It is covered with cement and is neatly whitewashed. 
They say there is but little doubt but this is the actual place of 
his burial. A great city lies beneath his resting-place. 

We passed Patmos at night, and I did not see it. About noon 
we passed Coos. Sailing under Cyprus, we had that island in 
sight for several hours. 

BEIRUT. 

We reached Beirut. Friday morning. October 11th. The ladies 
of our party did some shopping in the morning. In the after- 
noon our dragoman had our horses brought out for trial. He 
had carefully selected them in Jerusalem, and brought them over 
to Beirut for us. His name is Seleh el Karey. 

He was born at Shechem, is six feet six inches high, and weighs 
about three hundred pounds, with no surplus flesh. He is the 
most powerful man I ever saw. and does not seem to know his 
own strength. His dress is purely Oriental. He wears a turban, 
and his pants, if such they may be called, flow down between 
his feet, within three inches of the ground. They were gathered 
thick about the waist, both before and behind, and were of the 
finest material. One or two pair were of silk. One of the ladies 
asked him how many yards were in a single pair, and he said 
twenty-seven. He wore a sword in proportion to his size, and a 
pistol at his belt. He is in great favor with the sheiks through 
whose territory we are to pass, and this insures us perfect safety. 
He knows every road and village in the land, and seems to have 
the right of way everywhere. He goes right into orchards and 
olive-yards, where we eat our lunch or pitch our tents. We usu- 
ally camp near some village, and he hires some one of the place 
to patrol our camp while we are asleep. This always gives him 
favor with the people. 

He is a member of the Baptist church in Shechem. and seems 



128 



My Trip to the Orient. 



to be a devout, consistent Christian. Miss Redford, who has 
charge of our party, has had him with her several times, and says 
he is a gentleman in every sense of the word, and thoroughly 
trustworthy. But his traits will be developed as we proceed with 
these notes. 

When our horses were brought up, he selected such as he 
thought would suit each one. When the ladies came to mount, 
a muleteer stood at the head of the horse, while " Solie," as his 
first name is pronounced, took the lady up in his hand as if she 
were a little child, and set her on the horse. I stood by and 
watched the operation. There did not seem to be the least effort 
on his part. One lady was not seated to her notion in the saddle, 
when he lifted her off, holding her up as if she were a babe, 
arranged her skirts and set her back on the horse without placing 
her on the ground. One of the ladies weighs over two hundred 
pounds. He lifted her to the saddle with seemingly as little ef- 
fort as he had lifted any of the others. 

Our first ride was to the Protestant College, under the presi- 
dency of Dr. Daniel Bliss. For forty-six years he has been strug.- 
gling with this school, and has made it a power in this land. 
The day we visited the school they were just organizing, as this 
was the second day of the term. They had 415 the first day, 
and expected to have fully 600 before the term closed. They 
have pupils from all parts of Syria, some from Greece, and many 
from Egypt. Many Mohammedans attend the school. The 
Bible and its teachings are made prominent. All the pupils are 
required to attend daily prayers, and services on Sundays. 

I met several graduates of the institution, on the steamers. 
They had all learned to speak English, and spoke in the highest 
terms of their alma mater. 

We found Dr. Bliss a white-haired veteran, sweet of spirit, 
polite and courteous, and in great favor with both teachers and 
pupils. 

There are quite a number of stone buildings already erected, 
and others in process of erection. It is like "planting a hand- 
ful of corn upon the mountain," and we trust it may yet "wave 
like Lebanon." 

We rode some five or six miles to try our horses, and they be- 
haved very well, except one, which kicked one of the Arabs over, 
who was trotting along behind him, urging him to a better gait. 



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129 



BAALBEK. 

Our plan was to begin our horseback-ride from Beirut, to end 
at Jerusalem. But we changed our purpose somewhat, sent the 
horses on ahead with our contingent of twenty- three Arabs, while 
we went some distance by rail to a point near Baalbek. Just at 
sundown we reached our camp near Baalbek with its wonderful 
ruins. 

We had passed over a part of the Lebanon range and up 
through a broad plain lying between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. 
We here noticed a circumstance that we found to prevail all over 
Syria and Palestine. There are no farm-houses, — no families live 
out in the country; but they all live in towns and villages, and 
go out in the morning to their work, and return in the evening. 
This fact turns light upon an expression frequently found in the 
Scriptures; such as, he "sent his disciples into the towns whither 
he himself would come," and "I must go to other towns." The 
people were all living in towns, and to preach to people in the 
towns was to reach all. It has always been dangerous to live in 
the country, and not less so now than formerly. In going up 
this beautiful valley we saw our first camp of Bedouins, or "sons 
of the desert." I counted some thirty of their black tents, and 
thought of the expression, "black as the tents of Kedar." 

Just like their fathers of three thousand years ago, they make 
their tents of the same material, and have no certain dwelling- 
place. Their camels were roaming about over the plains, and 
here and there we could see their horses and asses. 

Baalbek is now an insignificant place, with houses built of ma- 
terial, much of which has been taken from some of the grandest 
buildings in the world. In fact, for ages the ruins of Baalbek 
have been a veritable quarry, from which have been taken the 
choicest pillars, stones, and images with which to build and 
ornament cities and temples both in Asia and Europe. 

Our camp was pitched near a great fountain, or spring, that 
breaks out at the foot of a mountain, forming a river without the 
aid of tributaries. Mills are run by its waters not a quarter of a 
mile from the spring. We could not but admire our tents. They 
were made of the very best material, and lined with patchwork 
of the most elaborate patterns. They remind one of a "crazy- 



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quilt," except that there was much of order in the placing of the 
pieces and the arrangement of the many bright colors that com- 
pose it. My tent was made of twelve main sections, running to 
a point at the apex. I counted the number of pieces in one of 
these sections, and then estimated the number in the tent. There 
were 4,620. Each piece was sewed upon a background, and I was 
told the whole was done by men. 

It is astonishing how quickly these tents are pitched and struck 
by our Arab attendants. As soon -as we are through with them 
in the morning, they are taken down, rolled up, and packed upon 
horses and asses. Our valises and traveling-bags are carefully 
placed in waterproof bags, and packed in the same way. Great 
boxes of dishes and table-ware, with stoves and cooking utensils, 
are alike piled upon these patient little animals, and packed over 
the roughest road leading over the highest mountains, and if 
anything has ever been broken or injured, I have not heard of it. 
We are not afraid of losing the smallest thing. 

Miss E. Redford, who has charge of our party, and who has 
conducted several other parties through Palestine, told me of an 
interesting incident. Two young men of the party, going to take 
a swim in the Sea of Galilee, left their watches in her care, — one 
a very valuable one. The young men failed to call for their 
watches that night, and she placed them, with her own, under 
her pillow. The next morning they broke camp very early, and 
she forgot all about the watches until they had been riding several 
hours. AVhen she discovered her oversight, she called to Solie, 
who was then her dragoman, as now, and told him about it. He 
told her to rest perfectly easy; she should find them under her 
pillow that night when she got to camp. When they rode up to 
their camping-place, they found all the tents pitched. She rushed 
in and felt under her pillow, and there were the three watches, 
just as she left them. 

We spent the Sabbath at Baalbek. All of our party mounted 
their horses and rode over to view the ruins. I could not recon- 
cile it to my conscience to go; so remained in camp until their 
return. We had preaching in camp at one o'clock. 

On the preceding Saturday night, as Miss Redford, Solie, and 
I were discussing the Sunday excursion to the ruins, I told them 
that the first ruins I ever heard of when a boy were the ruins of 



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131 



Baalbek, and that even then as I read a description of them, I 
felt a desire to see them. But although within a few miles of 
them, if my only chance to see them was by going on the Sabbath, 
I would pass them by, and deny myself. Then was manifested 
the nobility of Solie, that never lost any of its luster during the 
entire trip. We were to start Monday morning by 6:30. He 
said, " Doctor, you shall see the ruins; I will get up at four o'clock, 
Monday morning, and go with you." I told him I appreciated 
his kindness, but that I would not hinder the rest of the party a 
moment for my pleasure. He said he would be back in time. 
Accordingly, he and I were in the saddle while the stars were 
still shining, and by the time day was fully abroad I was amid 
the grandest ruins I had yet seen. The Temple of Jupiter and 
the Temple of the Sun were larger and more magnificent than 
anything of the kind, either in Europe or Asia. Very much had 
been recently uncovered. In fact, the archaeologists are even 
now at work. The Rev. William Jessup, a missionary, son of 
Dr. Jessup, who has been on this field as a missionary for forty 
years, in visiting me Sunday afternoon told me that there was an 
immense keystone that could not be lifted without the aid of 
jacks; that the manager had borrowed some from the railroad 
company, who could spare them only on Sunday. He had a 
number of men working for him, and the only man who refused 
to work on the Lord's day was a native Syrian. He went to 
church. But to return to my visit to the ruins. We were the 
first on the ground. We startled an owl from his home among 
the great carved stones that rested on the few remaining pillars 
of the Temple of Jupiter, bringing to mind the prediction of the 
prophet with reference to the temples of the idols being given up 
to the owls and the bats, these creatures of the night. Here was 
a temple, that in its perfection and glory exceeded any building 
of the kind that the world had ever produced, enough of it being 
left after the sweep of centuries to strike the beholder with awe 
and admiration. Great pillars of the purest and best marble, 
some sixty feet high and six feet in diameter, made in the highest 
style of the art, crowned with capitals of exquisite workmanship; 
others, some six in number, seventy feet high and seven feet 
in diameter. From the plan of the building as revealed by the 
spade of the archaeologist, there were originally fifty columns of 



132 



My Trip to the Orient. 



this latter size. Enough was left to give an idea of the stupen- 
dous grandeur of the building, and the utter desolation that lay 
all about these silent witnesses of its former grandeur, made 
the picture complete. Of all the ruins I had visited from Rome 
to this place, these struck me as the greatest. 

Baalbek was once a great city. Standing at the head of the 
great valley lying between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges 
of mountains, at the fountain of the river bearing the same name, 
being right on the great artery of commerce between the East and 
the West, it was at one time one of the busiest and most important 
cities of the Old World. Beneath the soil, on every hand lie 
streets, and homes, and palaces that have been buried for cen- 
turies. 

An object-lesson was given us of how this and other cities have 
been buried in this land. Some ten days before our arrival, a 
fearful storm and cloudburst had struck the mountains round 
about. It tore great rents in the mountain sides, and brought 
down hundreds of thousands of tons of rock and earth. I saw 
places in the valley where hundreds of acres of land had been 
covered with rocks. Six persons, four horses, and a number of 
sheep and goats in Baalbek and vicinity were drowned, and the 
carcasses of the animals still lay near the city. In places, the 
roadway was covered to the depth of several feet with earth and 
rocks. 

Jf one storm could do so much, how easily can we believe that 
the storms of centuries could bury whole cities many feet deep. 

As I have said, the spring at Baalbek forms a river right where 
it breaks out from under the mountain. It was interesting to 
watch the people as they came and went. Men and women with 
their water- jars would wade right into the spring, stoop down, 
fill their vessels, and wade out again. There was not a con- 
venience about the whole place. 

Great flocks of sheep and goats were driven up, from time to 
time, to be watered. They, too, would wade in, or, goat-like, 
kneel on the bank and drink. Camels would usually go in and 
lie down in the cool water. Some of the goats had the longest 
ears I ever saw. They would hang down by the side of their 
heads like long pieces of leather, and when they drank, their ears 
would be submerged several inches in the water. I saw some 



My Trip to the Orient. 



133 



that were fully twelve inches long. Then there were sheep with 
immense tails as large as milk-pans. These tails are composed 
of pure fat. I saw many of them dressed and hanging up in the 
market. 

As we passed through Baalbek in the early morning, I saw a 
strange sight. A man drove a band of sheep along the street. 
A butcher stepped out of his shop and bought one. He brought 
out a shallow vessel, and, throwing the sheep down in the middle 
of the street, held its head over the tub, cut its throat, and waited 
for the poor struggling thing to die. The street was not more 
than ten feet wide, and as it lay in the middle, we had to ride 
round it. Other butchers had theirs hung up in the front of their 
little shops, and were skinning and dressing them, where all 
passers-by could see the operation. 

We began to realize that we were in a land where customs 
never change. I wish I could describe to you the plows we saw 
here and all over Palestine, — simply a crooked stick with a 
single handle, drawn by two diminutive oxen. Not a single 
change or improvement has been made since Elijah "found 
Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of 
oxen before him, and he with the twelfth." 

A French company, seeing the vast amount of merchandise 
carried from Beirut over the mountains of Lebanon on donkeys 
and camels, and in wagons, conceived the idea of building a rail- 
road to Damascus, and did it; but the people will not patronize 
it to any extent. The freight trains go by almost empty, while 
we passed long strings of camels, and a number of wagons with 
four mules driven tandem, toiling slowl} 7 over the mountains. 
What do they want with a railroad, when camels can carry such 
loads? 

As we passed up the great valley that lit-s between Lebanon 
and Anti-Lebanon, we visited what is said to be the tomb of 
Noah. It is in a building, and is, by my measurement, 110 feet 
long. The Moslems claim that Noah is buried here. What part 
of this long mound his body occupies, or whether they believe he 
fills it all, we were not told. Nor was it a matter of any special 
importance. 

We reached our camp at Baalbek just at night, Saturday, Oc- 
tober 12th. From this point we were to live in camp, and the 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



roads we travel, if roads they can be called, were in the condition 
they were in a thousand years ago. How the ladies, some of 
them never having had any previous experience in horseback- 
riding, ever made their way over them without accident, is a 
mystery. In contrast to Roman work and Roman enterprise, we 
passed a section of an old Roman road cut through the solid rock 
on the side of an immense mountain. Inscriptions still exist on 
the sides of the cut. Josephus tells about this road, as a most 
remarkable one. On the opposite side of a deep ravine we could 
see the remains of a great aqueduct, also built by the Romans. 

ABANA RIVER. 

We soon began our passage down the Abana River, one of the 
famous rivers of Damascus. It was as clear as crystal, and dashed 
and foamed amid the rocks in a most charming manner. We 
could but recall the expression of Naaman the Syrian, who was 
commanded of Elisha to dip himself seven times in the river 
Jordan, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better 
than all the waters of Israel?" 

A SYRIAN WEDDING. 

We camped on its banks at a town called Husiniyeh. After 
supper we were invited to a Syrian wedding. Of course we ex- 
pected to see both bride and groom, as well as witness a ceremony 
of marriage. 

We entered an open court. On one side the men were seated; 
on the other, squatted on the ground, were a lot of women and 
children. On one side of the court was a long pole, or log. Our 
party took possession of that, seating ourselves in a row. A large 
sheep stood among the women and children, as much at ease and 
at home as any one. 

The women were making some sort of comments on our party, 
and seemed to be much amused. We asked our dragoman what 
they were saying. He said they thought I was the father of the 
whole crowd. 

Soon after we were seated, one of the men began a low, wailing 
song, in a falsetto voice, which was soon accompanied with regu- 



My Trip to the Orient. 



135 



lar clapping of hands in unison. Then a piper with a rude reed 
flute stepped out. and six men joined hands round him, and be- 
gan a most peculiar dance. The crowd became more and more 
excited, and the dancing increased in violence. This continued 
for some time, and the six seated themselves, and one of our 
muleteers, taking a dagger in each hand, began to dance and to 
flourish the knives in the most weird and desperate manner. He 
would fall upon one knee, and nourish the knives so rapidly, that 
the eye could not keep up with their movements. All the while 
the bridegroom was moving about, the observed of all observers. 
I asked where the bride was, and when she would appear. I was 
then given the history of a Syrian marriage. 

When a young man sees a girl that he wants, he goes to his 
father and gets him to go to the father of the girl and ask for her. 
She may care nothing for him, — in fact, may love another. But 
that makes no sort of difference. If the father of the girl is 
pleased with the proposition, he goes to the local sheik, who fixes 
a price that the young man is to pay her father. He then sends 
her a ring and a veil, and the whole matter is settled. They are 
as good as married. Matters may stand for weeks, or even a year. 
When the girl is ready, the friends of the groom assemble at his 
house, as in the instance we saw, and sing and dance and enjoy 
themselves for three nights, the bride making no appearance all 
this time. After three days she goes to his home, and they begin 
life together. 

Once after this — at Tiberias — we were invited to a wedding, 
and the ladies of our party were invited in to see the bride. They 
found her seated among a lot of women, undergoing a process of 
tattooing her feet. We men ^vere ungallant enough to peek in 
through the window, and we, too, saw her. She was a mere child. 
They had a green substance, something like hot sealing-wax, 
smeared over the top of her foot, and with a sharp instrument 
they were pricking the figures into it. The most painful expres- 
sion was on her face. 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Damascus — Plowing and Thkashing — C^sarea Philippi — Sea of Gali- 
lee — Bethsaida — Capernaum — Tiberias — Mount of Beatitudes — 
Cana of Galilee — Mount Gilboa — Nazareth — Nain — Shunem — 
Carmel — Jezreel — Naboth's Vineyard — Dothan. 

DAMASCUS. 

Our first objective point was Damascus. This is perhaps the 
oldest city in the world. It has had an uninterrupted existence 
as a city for over four thousand years. It has held high position 
in the drama of empires and nations. The greatest and most re- 
nowned men of the ages have been within its walls. Other cities 
have nourished, both in the East and in the West. Their glory 
has waxed and waned, and in many instances they have passed 
away, but this gem of the Orient has held its place among the 
great and permanent cities of the earth. 

It stands in the heart of one of the most fertile spots of earth. 
Environed by mountains on all sides, with the Abana and Phar- 
par furnishing an abundant supply of water at all seasons, its 
beauty is unrivaled. The valley is perhaps twenty-five miles 
across, every way, and so thickly planted is it with trees, that 
when you stand on a mountain above it, it looks like one vast 
orchard. I was told that almost every kind of nut in the 
world can be grown here. 

The city occupies a position in the center of this great valley, 
reminding one of a rare gem set in a ring of beauty. 

But the connection of this city with the conversion of St. Paul 
gives to it its chief charm. Tradition has fixed the spot where 
the " light shone round about him," some five or six miles from 
the city, and a shrine has been built above it. But I pay no sort 
of attention to these traditions, so long as I have my Bible. Paul 
tells us, "As I drew nigh the city," not five or six miles from it. 
If the walls of the city stand any way near where they did then, 
we know by what gate he entered. We found the street that is 



My Trip to the Orient. 



137 



still "called Straight," and were shown the house of Judas, to 
which Ananias was sent with instructions to enlighten him with 
reference to Jesus, who appeared to him in the way. 

Our guide took us to what is called the "house of Ananias." 
We were taken underground to a chapel or church fitted up with 
altar, candles, etc., and the very place where Ananias baptized 
Paul was pointed out to us. But the trouble lay in the fact that 
Paul did not go to the house of Ananias to be baptized, but the 
reverse. But when the Catholic Church fixes a place, it is fixed. 
Scripture and propriety have nothing to do with the matter. 

The street called Straight is roofed in, and is a very busy 
street. Little shops and stores abound on each side, and there 
is a living stream of men, women, and children flowing through 
it, interspersed with loaded donkeys and camels every few steps. 
The camels and donkeys have the right of way, and everybody 
has to dodge and dart around to keep from being run over or 
scraped off the street. While in this street, I saw a funeral pro- 
cession. A number of men, one bearing an immense banner, 
came in from a side street, uttering the most doleful wail. The 
corpse was laid upon a bier without a coffin, and borne upon the 
heads of two men. The whole passed like an apparition, and was 
gone. The event made not a ripple on the restless, surging sea 
of humanity. 

On one of the streets were a great number of workshops. 
Some were blacksmithshops, with a small fire of charcoal between 
some rocks, and a little anvil. The smith was perched on a little 
stool, from which he worked his bellows and hammered his iron. 
But the most amusing thing was to see the carpenters turning. 
They would pass the string of a long bow round the piece to be 
turned. With the right hand they gave it a rotary motion, while 
they held the chisel in the left hand and toes. They seemed to 
be as skillful with one foot as with the other. All the time the 
turner sat on a very small stool, reaching right and left for either 
his tools or his wood. 

We were shown the wall down which it is said Paul was let 
when he escaped from Damascus. But great changes have taken 
place, both as to the city and the walls thereof. For ages no one 
was particularly interested as to where Paul made his escape. 
The fact of that escape was recorded, and that was all that any- 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



body was particularly interested in. The age of building churches 
over spots now made sacred and worshiped had n't come, and 
many generations passed, and the knowledge of the particular 
locality passed with them. 

The house of Naaman the Syrian, outside the walls, was pointed 
out. It is now in ruins, and withal looks quite modern. 

After leaving Damascus we pitched our tents at the base of 
Mount Hermon. This historic mountain, so celebrated in Scrip- 
ture history, stands out most prominently in the great range 
that glorifies the south of Syria and the north of Palestine. Its 
sides are bare. I could not see a tree or shrub from base to sum- 
mit; and while in the rainy season it may be clothed with grass, 
not a vestige of it appears now. Brown and bare, it lifts its 
massive sides up against the blue sky in silence and majesty. 
During the ages the storms and rains that have beat upon its 
brow and sides have stripped away much of the earth, and left 
great ledges of gray rock belting its sides. 

In our journey we came upon a lot of native men and women 
at a wine-press, working with their crop of grapes. They had a 
press, and had digged a "wine-vat" in the solid rock. Throwing 
the grapes, stems and all, into a large receptacle, men and boys 
with bare feet tramped them to pieces. They were then heaped 
up, and a long heavy pole was used as a prize to express the juice 
from the grapes. This ran down into the "wine-vat." A man 
went down a ladder set in this wine-vat, and dipped up the juice 
and handed it to another man at the top, who poured it into a 
large caldron, where it was boiled to a syrup. Quite a number 
of others were engaged in boiling the juice in smaller pots. The 
whole process struck me as anything but clean. In the first place, 
the mass as it came out of the wine- vat looked like very dirty 
dish-water. Some of it was strained through coarse sacks or bags 
that looked anything but inviting. 

PLOWING AND THRASHING. 

We, in our journey through Palestine, have often asked each 
other how these people make a living. It is true, we see them 
here and there with their little wooden plows scratching the sur- 
face of the ground, but the great body of them are huddled to- 



My Trip to the Orient. 



139 



gether in the villages, or are met on the highways, going, going. 
But the grape and the olive are great staples of food. 

How they reap their grain, we know not, for the season was 
over, but we frequently saw their process of thrashing. It was 
of the most primitive character. Oxen are driven round over the 
grain, spread out on cleared spots, or thrashing-floors, sometimes 
drawing a sort of drag after them. They carry on this process 
until the very straw is ground up. Then they throw the grain 
up in the air, and the chaff and straw is blown by the wind to 
one side, and the wheat is left in a yellow pile. The process is 
carried still further with sieves, that are filled and skillfully 
manipulated, until every particle of dirt and chaff is removed. 
The grain is then piled up in the center of the thrashing-floor, 
great piles of weeds are placed round the heaps, and men lie by 
and guard their treasure night and clay. As the night grows 
cold, they make a fire of the weeds, and hover over the flame and 
embers. Not a particle of the chaff or straw is wasted, but all is 
gathered up to be fed to horses, donkeys, and camels. When 
these animals have eaten all that suits their taste, the balance is 
carefully gathered up and mixed with mortar with which to cover 
their roofs. 

Everything that cannot be used in any other way, and that 
can be burned, is turned into fuel. And necessity has taught 
them economy in the use of fuel, that is almost marvelous. 
Mountain and plain have been robbed of trees and shrubs, and 
the people have been driven to the use of things for fuel, that 
would be repulsive to us. 

I saw one of our muleteers gathering some three or four little 
pieces of corn-stalks, not as big as my little finger. He arranged 
some rocks, and placing his little tin cup of coffee over it, by 
judicious management he boiled it. I could understand the ex- 
pression of the widow who told Elijah that she was gathering 
two sticks, that she might bake bread for her son and herself, 
and die. 

C.ESAREA PHILIPPI. 

As we entered the town of Csesarea Philippi I saw what threw 
light upon another expression in the Scriptures. The costumes 
of the people have undergone no change for centuries. The pants 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



of the men are made very full, hanging down between the feet,, 
sometimes within three or four inches of the ground. We are- 
told of a man who went out and gathered his lap full of wild 
gourds. With such pants, a man has a lap, and as I entered 
Csesarea Philippi I met a man with his lap full of a sort of squash. 

We spent the Sabbath at Csesarea Philippi, and at eleven 
o'clock our little company gathered under some great old olive 
trees, and as I stood in the shadow of Mount Hermon, where 
doubtless the transfiguration took place, I took that for my theme,, 
and as 1 discussed it, I felt that I was not far from the spot on 
which the Saviour stood when he made this wonderful display to- 
the chosen three. We know that he was in the coasts of Csesarea 
Philippi, and that he went up into a high mountain; and this 
one high mountain answers to the description. As I looked up 
its sides I could see over a roll where he could have been shut 
out from a vision of the plain below, and yet be high up the 
mountain. We all enjoyed the discussion of this unique passage 
in the life of our blessed Lord. 

Most of our party took a stroll to the great fountain or spring 
that forms one of the sources of the Jordan. Brother Pepper and 
family and I felt better to remain in camp. But that we might 
not be disappointed, Solie, our dragoman, took us by starlight to 
the place, next morning, and we were by the early daylight 
enabled to see all that was to be seen. We were back in camp, 
ate breakfast with the rest, and were ready for our day's ride. 

During this morning's ride we were shown what purported to 
be the tomb of Terah, the father of Abraham. But Terah died 
in Haran, and I have no idea that Abraham brought his body 
over forty miles for burial. 

We were now in a part of the inheritance of Dan, — the part 
that they took from a people who "had no business with any 
man." Naphtali had his inheritance here, in the far north. We 
found some very large and fertile valleys here in his inheritance. 
At night we camped at another great spring breaking out at the 
foot of the mountain. It was of sufficient volume to turn a rude 
mill with two sets of stones. We went into this mill. In the 
one small room were three donkeys, a horse, and a goat, all mixed 
up in the most familiar manner. Cleanliness is not one of the 
characteristics of this people. Our camp was in sight of Lake 



My Trip to the Orient. 



141 



Merom. The country immediately surrounding the lake is too 
marshy to allow of a near approach, so we had to content ourselves 
with looking at it from a distance. 

The moon was about its full, and our muleteers amused us by 
playing bear. One of them dressed in a goatskin robe, and danced, 
and cut up all sorts of capers, led by another, who was about as 
funny as the bear. They were like children at play. 

The next day we met five missionaries. We were glad to meet 
with English-speaking people, and we sat for some time on our 
horses and exchanged courtesies. 

Just before reaching an old Roman bridge, that was built before 
the time of Christ, we saw an immense herd of buffaloes. There 
were perhaps five hundred in the herd. The people here use them 
as cows, both as work-animals and for milking purposes. 

At lunch, to-day, we saw, for the first time, the papyrus grow- 
ing. It was near a Bedouin camp, and some of the children 
brought us some of the stalks from the low, swampy ground on 
which they grew. 

To-day we passed one of the new Jewish colonies, recently es- 
tablished by Baron Rothschild. He has bought up large tracts 
of land in Palestine, and is establishing Jewish colonies. The 
houses occupied by these people are in marked contrast to the 
squalid mud and stone houses occupied by the natives. Trees 
have been planted, roads have been built, and everything looks 
clean and nice. We talked with some of the Jews. They told us 
under Turkish rule they have a hard time. The tax-gatherers 
exact ten per cent, and then take as much more as they please 
when they come to collect. They have no assurance of safety for 
anything they possess. 

We are now in the land of Israel, the inheritance of God's 
people, but it is theirs no more. They rejected their own Messiah, 
and for nearly two thousand years they have never had a home 
nor a nationality. Strangers in strange lands, they live only by 
the kindness of other peoples. They, as a people, have been pre- 
served as distinct and separate from other people as if they had 
been set alone in the earth, and yet they have no home. Stran- 
gers with a strange tongue, and with a strange religion, roam 
over the home of their fathers, and should they venture to enter 
their land even by purchase, they have no assurance of either life 



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or property. Both civilly and religiously, they have been " broken 
off" from the parent stem, and aliens have been grafted in, and, 
contrary to nature, are partakers of the root and fatness of their 
possessions. There is no doubt about the power of God , to graft 
them in again. But will he do it? 1 answer according to the 
Scripture: not if they continue in unbelief. Rothschild may 
pour out his millions, — may, if possible, buy up the whole land, 
and make proclamation to his people all over the earth to come 
and occupy, but unless He who said "Without me ye can do 
nothing" shall smile upon the enterprise, the whole will fail. 
The laws of God's righteousness are as unalterable as his own 
being. 

SEA OF GALILEE. 

At a little after nine o'clock, October 22, 1901, I first caught 
sight of the Sea of Galilee. From the top of a hill I looked down 
upon it. There was not a ripple upon its placid face. I thought 
how often my Lord and Master had seen it from the same point, 
as, his heart burdened for the good of the people, he toiled thither 
and looked down upon its placid face. He could see the thickly 
populated towns that then stood near it, that now are in ruins, 
— the very sites of many of them now lost. 

We could see where the Jordan came in on the north, and the 
beautiful grassy spot was pointed out where, tradition tells us, he 
fed the five thousand. We know that tradition cannot be far 
wrong in this case; for there are Scripture points enough to hold 
us near the place. 

BETHSAIDA. 

We reached the sea at what is called Bethsaida. But little of 
the town is left, and maybe this is not the Bethsaida of Christ's 
time. There are, however, enough of ruins lying about to mark 
it as a place of some importance in the far past. And whether 
it be the place of that name in Christ's time, yet doubtless it was 
one of the places where he preached and taught. 

We took our lunch on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. We 
wandered up and down its rocky shore, and called up many a 
scene in the life of Christ as they are recorded in the New Testa- 



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143 



ment. But the towns round about, where our Lord so often went, 
and preached, and wrought his miracles of healing and mercy, 
where are they? They were then full of people; the land smiled 
with prosperity and plenty; but that wonderful peasant of Naza- 
reth lifted his hand, and in accents of pity said, " Wo unto thee, 
Chorazin! wo unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works 
which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they 
would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say 
unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day 
of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art 
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for if the 
mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in 
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say 
unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom 
in the day of judgment, than for thee." 

CAPERNAUM. 

We asked our dragoman where these cities were. He pointed 
to a hill not far off, and to a little heap of ruins, and said, "That 
is Capernaum." But there is some doubt about it. And thus of 
other towns mentioned in this doomed catalogue. 

The name of Jesus is honored and loved round the world. The 
wealth of nations has been poured into the lap of his church; his 
words are treasured above all things beneath the sun, while the 
very sites of these doomed cities have been lost to the world. 
The very mountains round about the Sea of Galilee, which were 
once clothed in verdure, are now grinning with bare, gray rocks 
from summit to base, the most desolate object I saw in all Pales- 
tine. 

Locked in the arms of these hard, desolate mountains lay the 
Sea of Galilee, as beautiful as when Jesus walked its shores or 
rode on its surface, its clear and limpid waters mirroring rock 
and mountain with faultless perfection on its placid surface. It 
was the one thing in Palestine that filled my ideal, and that had 
remained through the ages the same unalterated, unalterable gem 
of the Jordan. Its waters were as clear and sweet as if they had 
just broken from their fountains in the mountains of Lebanon. 
When we reached its shores in the morning, its surface was as 



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calm and smooth as a sea of glass; but while we were at lunch a 
sudden wind came down upon it, that lashed it into waves and 
covered it with whitecaps. 

TIBERIAS. 

Our plan was to go by boat to Tiberias, and notwithstanding 
the strong wind, we embarked in two boats, rowed by a lot of 
stalwart Arabs. After rowing some miles and turning a certain 
point, they hoisted up sail, and we fairly flew over the waters. 
Time and again, when an extra large wave would strike us, the 
spray would fly entirely over the boat; but it was a most exhila- 
rating ride, and one that will linger as a sweet memory with us 
all. 

When I saw the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, I involun- 
tarily exclaimed, "Thank God! here is one thing over which 
they can build neither church nor mosque; where they can't 
change the location, and where, when we see it, we know it." 
From what I have seen all over this country, if men had the 
power they would lift this beautiful sea from its setting, trans- 
port it to some foreign land, and build a church over its waters, 
and light the whole with wax candles. 

We landed at the town of Tiberias, where we camped for the 
night. Brother Pepper, his son Sam, and I took a swim in the 
sea. It was indeed a luxurious bath, and we felt very much re- 
freshed. 

This town of Tiberias was here in the time of our Lord, but I 
do not remember that any visit of his to it is ever mentioned. 
John tells us, in a parenthesis, "Howbeit there came other boats 
from Tiberias, nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after 
that the Lord had given thanks." 

It is on the western shore of the sea, which is twice called the Sea 
of Tiberias by John. We look in vain for other cities made memo- 
rable by the visits and miracles of Jesus, and yet this Roman city 
stands now where it did in the days of the incarnation, the haven 
of ships now, as then. A mile or two below the town are the 
celebrated hot springs, that have been regarded as a sanitarium 
since long before the days of Herod the Great. When taken with 
his last sickness, he was borne hither, but too late. The water, 
as it comes out of the mountain side in a great stream, is hot 



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enough to scald one, and is exceedingly salt and bitter. I found 
it wholly unpalatable. 

MOUNT OF BEATITUDES. 

Not far from Tiberias we were shown the ruins of the village 
of Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene. Near the Sea of 
Galilee is pointed out the Mount of Beatitudes, where, it is said, 
the Sermon on the Mount was preached. I do not know whether 
this be the place or not, but I thought, as I sat and looked upon 
the place, that I could reconcile a seeming difference between the 
account given by Matthew and the one by Luke. Matthew says: 
" And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and 
when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his 
mouth, and taught them, saying"; while Luke says: "And he 
came down with them, and stood in the plain." There is a 
beautiful plain at the foot of a mountain, that slopes up the side. 
It would be the most natural thing in the world for Jesus to as- 
cend a few steps up the mountain side, while the crowd stood in 
the plain below him. Matthew, referring specially to the posi- 
tion of Christ, would place him on the mountain; Luke, thinking 
more of the multitudes, would locate them with their teacher on 
the plain. 

On this same plain another scene was enacted that set at de- 
fiance the teachings of this Prince of peace. He taught men to 
love their enemies, to do violence to no man; he forewarned men 
that they that take up the sword must perish with the sword. 
Angels sang at his birth, "Peace on earth, and good will to men." 

But here on this very plain, where he delivered the most won- 
derful sermon the world ever heard, the Crusaders marshaled in 
his name, and proclaiming they were fighting for his cause, met 
the Moslem hosts under Saladin. and after a most fearful con- 
flict, when the blood of Christian and infidel mingled in one in- 
discriminate stream, the cross went down under the crescent, and 
to this good hour the Mohammedan holds sway over all this fair 
land. The very lives of Christians are in the hands of these igno- 
rant, bigoted hordes, that lord it over all the land. 



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CANA OF GALILEE. 

At noon we reached the village of Cana of Galilee, where "Jesus 
made the water wine." It is a little, insignificant village, with 
no special mark about it. Of course we were taken into a church, 
and down under the ground, and shown the very spot where the 
miracle was performed, and they pretend to have preserved two 
of the water-pots. But as I have found everywhere, the clumsi- 
ness stamps the whole thing as a fraud. Instead of "water-pots 
of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews," they 
have two immense stone mortars — shall I call them? — six inches 
in thickness, set in the side of the altar. A child could see the 
fraud. 

I saw a constant stream of women with water- jars on their 
heads going to and from the village to the fountain. I followed 
the procession till I came to the fountain. A dozen or more 
women and girls stood round about it. There was a square well, 
about three feet in diameter, and some ten or twelve feet deep. 
In the bottom was a stone standing a few inches above the 
water. The water poured in a constant stream through the bot- 
tom of this fountain. There were holes or niches in the two oppo- 
site sides of the well. 

A woman would descend with her jar and take her stand on the 
rock, sinking her jar as deep as it would go in the water. She 
would then take her hand and throw the water in until the jar was 
full; then Jifting it onto one knee, she would take a step up, 
change it over to the other; she would then take another, and thus 
toil to the surface. But if a number were ready to fill their jars 
at the same time, one would descend, and then a second would 
go half-way down and stand above her. A jar would be handed 
to the one at the bottom, who would fill it, and pass it to the one 
above her, who would hand it to one on the outside. When all 
were filled, the two would come up, and each one selecting her 
own vessel, lift it to her head, and return to her home. These 
jars would hold from four to five gallons. 

It was astonishing with what ease even little girls would lift 
these jars to their heads and walk off, looking around and chat- 
ting as if it were merely play. 

I was told that this was the only fountain in the village. It 



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147 



must have been nearly half a mile from the extreme edge, and 
yet women had been coming and going thus burdened (every 
drop of water used in their homes carried on their heads) for 
thousands of years. No one had ever altered the arrangement or 
suggested a change. 

More than a hundred yards below this fountain the water 
comes out into a stone reservoir from which flocks and herds are 
watered. There are stone troughs on each side of this reservoir. 
Men would dip the water up and pour it into these troughs, and 
the sheep, goats, and cattle would come and drink. I saw some 
of the same sort of contention over these troughs that took place 
thousands of years ago, as described in the book of Genesis. 

As I stood above the fountain of bright, clear water, and saw 
those women drawing and bearing it away to the village, I won- 
dered if the water turned into wine were not drawn and borne 
from this very spring. If this be the true Cana of Galilee, the 
answer is easy. 

By an easy ride that afternoon, we reached Nazareth. Before 
reaching it, however, we enjoyed some views that were of thrilling 
interest. Away off to our right stood Mount Carmel, jutting out 
into the blue Mediterranean. As we sat upon our horses and 
looked over the country, we thought of Elijah and his wonderful 
contention with Ahab and the prophets of Baal. His great prayer 
of faith for the rain, that had been held back for three years and 
six months, was lifted to the God who had just answered by fire. 
We could see where the servant went to look over the Mediter- 
ranean for a sign of rain, and when that little cloud like a man's 
hand rose up as out of the sea, he arose from his knees and started 
for Jezreel. Off to our left, on a mountain top, stood the remains 
of this old city, and we could see every mile of the sixteen that 
he had to run over to reach Ahab in this city. It was a wonder- 
ful race, but not equal to the one that immediately followed as 
he fled for his life to Horeb. 

GILBOA. 

Our point of observation was marvelous. Near us was the 
plain of Esdraelon, or Megiddo, or Armageddon. More important 
battles have been fought on this plain than at any other point 
in all the land of Israel. Here Israel and the Syrians fought 



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My Trip to the Orieat. 



most of their great battles; here the great Napoleon hurled his 
hosts against his foes. Just to our left rise the mountains of Gil- 
boa, where Saul and his three sons were slain in one day. I could 
not but call up the lament of David over the fall of these truly- 
great men: "The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: 
how are the mighty fallen ! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in 
the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains 
of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let their be rain, upon you, 
nor fields of offerings." 

Some five or six miles away from where the camp of Israel 
was that night is the little village of Endor, nestling up to the 
hill wdiere Saul made that visit to the witch. We could see in the 
distance the site of Beth-shan, where the Philistines took the 
body of Saul and nailed it to the wall. 

I shall ever after this have the picture of these plains, 
mountains, and towns in my mind as I read the history connected 
with them. 

We passed through the little village of Shunem, where that 
great woman entertained Elisha, and built him a chamber on the 
wall. We saw the field, doubtless, where her little boy took sick, 
and we could look up all the way to Carmel, where she rode in 
such haste to lay her troubles upon the heart of the man of God. 

NAZARETH. 

After this day, crowded with so many scenes of interest, we 
camped at Nazareth. Before riding into town we ascended the 
hill just above the place, where we enjoyed a most charming view 
of the village and the surrounding country. This hill is called 
the "Mount of Precipitation," and tradition has it that here the 
Jews took our Lord to " cast him down headlong." But the record 
tells us " the brow of the hill on which their cit}^ was built." In 
the first place, the city is not built on this hill, and in the next 
place, I could see no place where a man could be thrown 
headlong. A little below the town is another hill, that is said to 
be the place. I ignored both these, and took a stroll through the 
town. I found several places where a man might be hurled 
headlong over a precipice from twelve to twenty feet to his death. 

The customs of this people have never changed. They dig for 



My Trip to the Orient. 



149 



earth or stone for building purposes right among their houses, 
and some of these places may have answered Luke's description. 
Of course, the house of Mary and the carpenter-shop of Joseph 
are shown, covered with the inevitable church. Down under the 
church is a broken column, and we were gravely told that Mary 
was sitting on this column when the angel Gabriel appeared to 
her. The very crack through which Gabriel squeezed his way 
into her presence is shown. I became so thoroughly disgusted 
with all this fummery and nonsense, that I could hardly suppress 
my disgust. It was enough for me to know that here in this 
mountain town, that perhaps hardly has a feature of its original 
appearance remaining, our Lord had lived the greater portion of 
his life while on earth. Him I love, him I worship, but not a 
single spot he ever visited, merely because of that visit. I know I 
am not wanting in reverence or veneration, but it is mine to wor- 
ship the Creator, more than the creature. But from my heart I 
do wish that the scenes of Christ's earthly connection had been 
left as he and nature left them. 

There is a fountain in the heart of the village, called " The 
Virgin's Fountain," that supplies the whole place with water. 
A stream, perhaps half or three quarters of an inch in diameter, 
flows out of the rocky side of the fountain. I made two visits to 
this fountain, and at no time were there fewer than twenty or 
thirty women and children with their jars and pitchers, holding 
them under the stream to be filled. Such jabbering and push- 
ing one hardly sees in a lifetime. I was told that day and night 
this scene is enacting here. I saw what appeared to be a sixteen- 
year-old girl fill two large jars. She set one on the curbing, lifted 
the other to her head, and then taking the one on the curb in 
her arms, moved off with an ease that was astonishing. Some- 
times mothers would come with their babes, and placing the jar on 
their head, would set the babe astride of their shoulders, move off, 
balancing the jar and leaving the baby to hold on as best he could. 

After supper our party gathered in the dining-tent, and I 
preached to them from that first sermon of Jesus at Nazareth. 

NAIN. 

We passed the village of Nain, — a very inferior village, with 
a fountain of brackish w T ater near it. Mount Tabor came into 
view. It is. one of the most symetrically formed mountains of 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



all that we saw. You know that for many years it was called 
the Mount of Transfiguration. I am satisfied that its main claim 
to this pre-eminence is its height, and beauty of form and pro- 
portions. Its Scriptural claims cannot measure up to those of 
Hermon, in my estimation. 

SHUNEM. 

After our lunch at Shunem, Brother Magness and I took a 
stroll through the village. We both have found this to be the 
best way to get at the habits and customs of the people. We see 
them in their home. When they come out to see us, it is differ- 
ent from our going to see them. We climbed up upon the house- 
tops and watched the women replastering their roofs. Baskets 
of earth were carried up and poured in a pile, finely powdered 
straw was then mixed with it, and lastly, jars of water were 
poured over the mass, and the women getting down on their 
knees, with their bare hands they would knead the mass like 
dough. They would then daub and spread it wherever needed. 
While standing watching the operation, I saw bees going in and 
out at one corner of the house, and found that a hive had been 
made of the same material as that covering the roof. How they 
got at the honey, I know not, nor did I desire to have an ocular 
demonstration. We saw the women baking bread in their dirt 
ovens. They would stuff the oven full of dry weeds and grass, 
and when it was hot, they put in the dough, and left it to bake. 
I was forcibly reminded of the Saviour's expression of the grass, 
"which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven." We can 
never appreciate the scarcity of fuel in this country, and what 
repulsive things are treasured up and burned here. How the 
people keep warm in the winter-time, when it is cold and rainy, 
is a mystery to me. 

JEZREEL. 

We passed the town of Jezreel, where was a well on the out- 
skirts of the place, and a bevy of women and girls drawing water. 
A double or cross arch of stone had been built over the mouth of 
the well. Upon this arch sat one or two, while the rest stood 
round about. Each one had a jar and a cord, and something to 
draw with, in the shape of a small leather bag, pressed open with 



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151 



a bunch of grass. They reminded me of a lot of fishers. The 
well was forty-five or fifty feet deep, and perhaps half a dozen 
would be fishing for water at the same time. As they drew their 
bags up, the water would be streaming back into the well, and 
hardly half of it would find its way into the jars. But] they 
would drop the bag in again, jabbering all the time in the 
most vociferous manner. When all were ready, each one would 
adroitly lift her jar to her head, and march up the steep 
hill to the village above. Generation after generation have 
women with toil and labor carried all the water used in the 
household in this way. 

NABOTH'S VINEYARD. 

Just below this well is the place of Naboth's vineyard, for 
which the poor fellow was put to death at the instigation of Jeze- 
bel, that Ahab might take possession of it. Whether this were 
the spot or not, it was near here, and this is a beautiful place for 
a vineyard. Here, hard-by, we were shown the tower from which 
this same wicked Jezebel was thrown. 

Off to our left was a brook, making its way to the Jordan, 
where Gideon's men drank as they were rushing after the Midian- 
ites. When we saw all these things with our own eyes, we felt 
that we were indeed in Bible lands, and where history was made. 

DOTH AN. 

Soon we came to Dothan, where Joseph was so cruelly treated 
and sold by his brethren. As we were frequently meeting the 
Bedouins as they trudged along with their camels and donkeys, 
it took but a little stretch of the imagination to reproduce the 
whole scene as described in the Bible. 

Here, too, at Dothan sat the prophet Elisha when the Syrian 
hosts surrounded the place, and his servant exclaimed, "Alas, 
my master, how shall we do?" And the prophet told him there 
were more with him than with them, and prayed God to open 
his eyes, and all the mountains round about were full of horses 
and chariots. It was marvelous to look out upon the very moun- 
tains once pressed by the wheels of these chariots of the heavenly 
hosts, which were there to defend a single servant of God. 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



CHAPTEK VIII. 

Samaria — Herod's Palace — Shechem — Samaritans — Gerizim and Ebal 

— Jacob's Well — Jerusalem — Mosque of Omar — Solomon's Stables 

— Mount of Olives — Wailing-place of the Jews — Subterranean 
Quarries — The True Calvary and Sepulcher — Bethany — Geth- 
semane. 

SAMARIA. 

We turned aside and climbed the hill on which Samaria, the 
once proud capital of Israel, stood. 

When we call up the history of this city, the wealth and power 
that it possessed, the great kings that sat on its throne, the mighty 
armies that stood ready to defend it, we could not realize the 
desolation that reigned about us as we walked over the silent 
hilltop and looked off at the now barren mountains that surround 
it on every side. 

On one side of the hill was a village with its unshapely houses 
clustered together, while the spot where once stood the palace 
and the throne was all planted with olive trees; but among these 
trees I counted more than one hundred columns standing, and 
there were perhaps as many more lying about. These columns 
were chiseled in the highest style of the art, and were the only 
lingering rays of the glory of this once proud city. 

The building that was once adorned by these columns was 
eighteen hundred yards long. Fragments of the old wall were 
seen here and there round about the hill, and a remnant of the 
gate where it is said the four lepers went forth to find the deserted 
camp of the Midianites. 

It was from this city that Ahab went forth to his death. We 
were shown the pool where they washed his bloody chariot, and 
where the dogs licked his blood, according to the saying of the 
prophet. 

SHECHEM. 

We reached Shechem, Saturday evening, and spent the Sab- 
bath in this, now the only town of the Samaritans. Since the 



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153 



time of Christ, and before, these Samaritans have had the Penta- 
teuch, and have, in a measure at least, carried out its rites and 
ceremonies. The Jews, since the destruction of Jerusalem, have 
never kept the passover, and yet these despised Samaritans, who 
live in Shechem, go upon Mount Gerizim, that stands above their 
city, and sacrifice the paschal lamb, and keep the feast according 
to the law of Moses. They have no union or communion with 
any other people, and year by year they have decreased in num- 
bers, until now there are but two hundred of them. They pos- 
sess the oldest copy of the Pentateuch in the world. Carefully 
have they guarded it all these centuries. It is said to be 3,570 
years old. 

The plan of our itinerary arranged to see this old manuscript, 
with other things, on the Sabbath, so I had to deny myself the 
great pleasure of seeing it. But I am God's, soul and body, and 
I feel that if I cannot deny myself for him, I am unworthy of 
him. I do not think I am a formalist, or that there is any virtue 
in mortifying the flesh, but when my pleasure is put against a 
plain command of God, my pleasure must give way. 

I looked upon this as a trial of my faith. It was suggested to 
me that this was not sightseeing; we were going to a synagogue^ 
to see a portion of God's word, and there could be no harm in it. 
Some suggested that it was an act of worship. But I said, "To 
me it is not an act of worship. I go to see it from motives of 
curiosity; to say that I have seen this oldest copy of the Penta- 
teuch in existence." Then I turned to God's word and read, "If 
thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleas- 
ure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of 
the Lord, honorable, and shall honor him, not doing thine own 
ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own 
words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will 
cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee 
with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it." 

That settled the matter with me, and I never saw the famous 
manuscript. 

GERIZIM AND EBAL. 

Hard-by the village of Shechem are Gerizim and Ebal, — the 
Mount of Blessing and the Mount of Cursing. Six men were to 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



stand on Gerizim to pronounce the blessing, and six on Ebal, 
just opposite, to pronounce the curses. No better place could 
have been selected. There is room for a great company between 
the mountains, and the conformation of the mountains is such 
that they form a natural sounding-board to throw the voice down. 

In looking over those selected to pronounce the blessing, I find 
th'at four of Leah's and both of Rachel's children were selected, 
while the two remaining children of Leah and the two of her 
maid Bilhah and the two of Rachel's maid Zilpah were chosen to 
pronounce the curses. 

JACOB'S WELL. 

I w r as somewhat disappointed in Jacob's well. It has been 
fixed over, until Jacob himself would not know it, and while they 
look after the top, and the candles that burn about it, they have 
suffered rubbish to accumulate in the bottom, and choke out all 
the water. Sychar is not far off, on the side of the hill. It was 
the crowd, moved by the earnestness of the woman to whom he 
had disclosed himself as the Messiah, coming down the hill to 
which Jesus refers when he said to his disciples, " Lift up your 
eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to the 
harvest." 

This day ended our long horseback-ride from Baalbek, in the 
far north, by way of Damascus, to Jerusalem. We had passed 
through Phoenicia, portions of Syria, the inheritance of Asher, of 
Naphtali, of that portion of Dan in the north, of Zebulun, of Issa- 
char, of the half-tribe of Manasseh, of Ephraim, of Benjamin, 
and of Judah. We had ridden over mountains and plains, along 
trails that one would think it impossible for a man or a woman 
to ride at all, much less in safet} T . But these gentle Syrian horses 
have grown up among such paths, and they were as sure of foot 
as goats. I never saw one scare or shy during the whole trip, and 
their endurance was marvelous. We saw what we could never 
have seen had we traveled by public conveyance. We saw how 
the people lived, and how they worked, and how they traveled, 
and, take it all in all, it gave us an idea of the country that never 
could have been obtained in any other way. 



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157 



JERUSALEM. 

We spent nearly a week in Jerusalem. Among the first places 
visited was the Mosque of Omar, that occupies the exact spot 
where Solomon's Temple stood. The only thing of interest to me 
was the location. The mosque, grand as it was, was but so much 
rubbish in my way. As we reached the door of the mosque, each 
one of us had to put slippers over our shoes, as no unhallowed 
foot of a Christian dog was allowed to touch the sacred floor of 
this building. We had been subjected to this requirement at 
every mosque we entered. 

But wherever we went we were expected to contribute back- 
sheesh at every turn. At one place the Arab who was accom- 
panying us came to a spot in the floor covered with a mat. He 
reverently uncovered it, and showed three nails and a half driven 
in the floor, and informed us that every hundred years one of 
these nails would leave, and that when the last one vanished, the 
world would come to an end. He also told us that if we would 
lay a piece of coin on the head of one of the nails we would be 
sure to go up to heaven. I laid down a Turkish coin worth 
about twelve cents, and from his astonishment and action you 
would have thought I was going up that minute. He gathered 
up the coin and put it in his own belt. Whether he will report 
my claim or not, I can't tell. I shall not depend on him, anyway. 

Under the center of the dome is an immense rock, perhaps 
twenty feet across, said by the Moslems to be the altar of sacrifice 
used in Solomon's Temple. It is a rough, unhewn rock. Near 
its center is a hole, down which, they say, the blood ran. At one 
time, Gabriel came down and stood on this rock, and when he 
started back to heaven, it stuck to his feet, and was going up with 
him, when Mohammed seized and held it. And they say that it 
is now suspended in the air, where Mohammed left it; and they 
showed us the print of his hands on the rock where he seized it. 
These are some of the stories that are told us. 

The location and the area came up to my expectation, and I 
walked over the grounds and tried to banish the buildings with 
which they are encumbered, and see it as the place where the 
God of Israel — our God — saw fit to record his name, and where 
he visited his people. 



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We walked leisurely over the grounds. I was busy with my 
own thoughts, and paying but little heed to the stories of marvels 
and wonders as told by my Arab guide. God was in my heart. 
I had accepted Jesus Christ, his Son, as my Saviour. He had 
given his Holy Spirit as an assurance of the correctness of my 
faith, and as my Comforter. And what more could I desire? 

I had been to Gerizim, where the Samaritans worshiped. I 
was now on Mount Moriah, in Jerusalem, and the words of Jesus 
to the woman of Samaria came sweetly to me: "Woman, believe 
me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, 
[Gerizim], nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. . . . But 
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall 
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh 
such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship 
him must worship him in spirit and in truth." 

The Temple with all its wealth and splendor, with altar and 
ark, had gone down in common ruin. The goodly stones of this 
great house had been thrown down, and not one left upon another. 
But God is. His throne is in the heavens, and Jesus Christ, his 
Son, and our Advocate, is before that throne, not with the blood 
of bulls and of goats, but with his own blood, making atonement 
for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole 
world. Then, this place is but a memory, — a shadow of good 
things that have come. 

SOLOMON'S STABLES. 

After we had seen all that was to be seen above-ground, we 
were led underground into what is called Solomon's stables. Im- 
mense chambers reaching for hundreds of yards, hewn out of the 
solid rock, with pillars left standing, and arches sprung between 
them, engaged our attention. It looked as if we should never 
come to the end of these chambers. For many generations the 
existence of these underground chambers was unknown. The 
people of Jerusalem walked over them, and were not aware of 
them. 

We are told in the Scriptures that "Solomon had forty thou- 
sand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand char- 
iots." Where did he, where could he, keep all these horses? 
Here, under the city, the mystery is solved, and the question 



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answered. Here is room enough for all his horses, and they would 
be entirely out of the way. 

When Athaliah was dragged from the house of the Lord to be 
executed, it is said, "And they laid hands on her; and she went 
by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house: 
and there was she slain." This passage shows that the horses 
were kept near the king's house, and also near the house of the 
Lord. 

MOUNT OF OLIVES. 

From Olivet we obtained a very fine view of the Temple site. 
Olivet rises above Mount Moriah, and from its summit one can 
look down upon the city, and were the Temple standing, could 
see it in all its glory. No doubt I stood near the spot where 
Jesus and his disciples sat when he told them of the destruction 
of the city and of the Temple, and of the tribulation that was 
coming. His great heart swelled with emotions of love and pity. 
The tears streamed down his cheeks, when, as if losing sight of 
those round about him, and all else, he sobbed out his sorrow in 
the cry, "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, 
and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I 
have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house 
is left unto you desolate." 

Not many years after this, the storm broke upon that devoted 
city, and since that wonderful hour their house has been desolate, 
and the people he loved and would have saved scattered to the 
ends of the earth, with no protection, no sheltering wing over 
them. 

W AILING-PLACE OF THE JEWS. 

I went down to what is known as the " Wailing-place of the 
Jews." Here were scores of Jews, from lads of a few summers to 
old men who had grown gray and stooped in waiting. Stretching 
for a hundred yards or more was a part of the old wall of their 
city. These stones were there in the days when their Temple 
stood on Mount Moriah, when their altars smoked with their 
sacrifices, and they were the people of God, known and recognized 
among all men. And now they were strangers in their own city, 
and here they, and their fathers for generations, have assembled 



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every day, and, with their faces to these unsympathizing stones, 
are wailing out their sorrows, and waiting for the coming of their 
Messiah. I saw nothing in Jerusalem that touched me so deeply 
as the scene at this wall. I heard their murmur all along the 
line as they stood with their backs to the light, and their faces to 
the hard, senseless stones. "The vail was upon their hearts." 
The Master was near, saying, "Behold, I stand at the door and 
knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will 
come in to him, and will sup witmhim, and he with me." They 
had rejected Him who said, " Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner- 
stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be 
confounded." Instead of looking to this precious stone, the}'- were 
crying to the senseless, unsympathizing stones laid up by human 
hands in this wall, — stones that have made no reply, though 
w r ailed to for ages. 

During the Sabbath of our stay in Jerusalem, I preached to 
our little company in the parlor of the hotel. I took for my theme 
the fact that Jesus, the Son of David according to the flesh, was 
declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. 
A very intelligent Jew, who had been with our party for some 
days, sought an opportunity to compliment me on the sermon, 
and among other things, he said, "The Jews did not crucify 
Christ because they hated him. But they nailed him to the cross 
and said to him, if he would come down from the cross, they 
would believe on him. And I tell you, if he had come down from 
the cross, there is not a Jew in the whole world that would not 
have believed on him." I said, " Sir, you have not listened to 
your own Scriptures. They tell you that he should be put to 
death, and rise again from the dead. And this was a mightier 
display of divine power, than if he had come down from the cross. 
You have asked for your sign, and have not accepted a mightier 
sign given you." 

It is said that these Jews at their wailing-place use the Lamen- 
tations of Jeremiah as their texts. Among those there the day I 
saw them, my guide told me were some of the richest Jews in 
Jerusalem. I could not but mark the earnestness and the serious- 
ness that characterized old and young. When I knew of the op- 
pression to which they are subjected in this the land of their 
fathers, I could not wonder so much that they never wearied in 



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crying for help. And one generation is taught by another that 
here they are to find relief. 

SUBTERRANEAN QUARRIES. 

We went all through the subterranean quarries that lie beneath 
the city. From these quarries much of the stone used in the 
building of the city was taken. And these great caverns are 
silent monuments of the wisdom, skill, and energy of this people 
in their palmy days. 

We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, as it is called. 
Here we were shown the place of the crucifixion, the sepulcher, 
etc. I took no interest whatever in any of these places; for, in 
the first place, if they were the places where Christ was crucified, 
and where he was buried, the whole thing has been so marred, 
that nothing is left but churches, altars, and other insignia of 
superstition. The sepulcher as shown is no more like the sepul- 
cher described by the Evangelists, than night is like day. In the 
next place, these things are located inside the city, whereas 
Christ was crucified "outside the gate." I was as much inter- 
ested in the stories told me by my guide as in these. He said, 
when the cross was let down into its place it struck the skull 
of Adam, and then he showed me that skull inclosed in brass, 
and had me put my hand upon it. We went a little farther, and 
he showed me a niche in the wall, near an altar. It was covered 
with a wire gauze, and had a red stain near the bottom, on the 
inside. He said when the soldier pierced the side of the Saviour, 
and when the blood flowed down and struck Adam, that he sprang 
to life and rose from the dead. He did n't tell me how he was 
getting along without his skull, that was incased in that brass box. 

THE TRUE CALVARY AND SEPULCHER. 

When General Gordon was here, he went outside the city, and 
with his Bible in his hand, selected a hill that he claimed was 
the true Calvary. I was told nothing of this until we reached the 
place. For some moments I said nothing. But my thoughts 
were busy. The shape of the hill answered the description. It 
was north of the city, outside the gate, near the highway to 



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Damascus, and from my heart I exclaimed, " I believe General 
Gordon is right." This place answers to every token. Just below 
us, within a stone's-throw, were some tombs, hewn out of the rock. 
We went in and examined them. They were like the one described 
by the Evangelists. 

John tells us, " Now in the place where he was crucified there 
was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was 
never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore, because 
of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at 
hand." 

The door of this sepulcher is so low that one has to stoop to 
look into it, as John did on the morning of the resurrection of 
Jesus. The ante-chamber is large enough to hold a number of 
persons, while the places prepared for the bodies lie along the 
wall, so that an angel could sit "one at the head, and the other 
at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." In front of the 
door there was a groove cut in the solid rock, perhaps a foot wide 
and a foot deep. In this groove was a great stone like a mill- 
stone, flattened on one edge. This stone could be easily rolled 
until it fell on its flattened side immediately in front of the door. 
Then it would be hard to roll away. The women knew this, and 
asked, " Who shall roll us away the stone ... ? for it was very 
great." 

I was thoroughly convinced that this is the identical sepulcher 
in which Jesus was buried. 

After I reached home, I was told that when the Rev. Hugh 
Price Hughes, a wise man, and a leader in Methodism in England, 
visited this sepulcher, and studied the situation, he was so over- 
whelmingly convinced, that he threw himself down on the place 
" where the body of Jesus had lain." General Gordon was 
equally certain of this fact. 

I turned my feet back to Jerusalem, feeling that I had been to 
the true Golgotha of the Scriptures, and I felt glad that neither 
Moslem nor Christian had fallen upon this place to destroy it by 
mosque or church. 

The day I visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, we saw a 
lot of angry men lined up, and a number of Turkish soldiers with 
drawn swords, trying to keep the peace. It was Monday, and I 
was told that the day before there had been trouble between the 



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163 



Coptic and the Roman Catholic Christians about who should 
sweep the dust on a part of the floor about the sepulcher. 

The Roman, the Greek, the Coptic, and Armenian, and perhaps 
others, have their section of the floor assigned to them, and any 
invasion of one another's rights is met with blows, and sometimes 
with death. The Turkish soldiers have to be ever on hand to 
quell these disturbances. On Sunday they had come to blows, 
and several had been knocked down and bruised. They were not 
satisfied with the results of Sunday's fight, and had assembled in 
larger numbers to have it out. What a spectacle does this pre- 
sent to the world, and to these followers of Mohammed, when 
men will fight and kill each other over the dust of the floor. And 
yet this is the legitimate result of "worshiping the creature more 
than the Creator, who is over all God, blessed forever." Men 
forget the lesson of the brazen serpent. It was taken with Israel 
into Canaan, and after a time they commenced to worship it. Of 
Hezekiah it is said, "He removed the high places, and brake the 
images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen 
serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children 
of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan," 
which means a piece of brass. It was nothing more. 

At one place there was a stone pillar protected by wire gauze, 
called the pillar of Moses. By it lay a rod. The faithful can 
poke this rod through an opening left for it, and touch the pillar 
and then kiss the end of the rod. On one side were three stones, 
also protected by wire, but a little end of each was left sticking 
out. One of these stones was brought from Sinai, one from the 
Jordan, and one from Mount Moriah. Do you know that the 
ends of these stones are kissed by the faithful as they visit this 
holy place? They are good, hard rocks, and of good size, or they 
would, like the foot of the statue of St. Peter at Rome, be kissed 
away. But, then, that is a matter of small importance, as there 
are plenty more of the same sort, where these came from, and are 
just as sacred. 

We were conducted down the Via Dolorosa, and had the several 
stations of that way pointed out to us. One is shown where there 
is a hand-print in the solid rock, and we were gravely told that 
that print was made by the hand of Christ as he staggered under 
his cross and fell against the wall. 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



The valley of Jehoshaphat, lying between Jerusalem and 
Mount Olivet, is very narrow, and can hardly be called a valley. 
The brook Kedron passes down through it, but at this season of 
the year it is perfectly dry. The valley of Jehoshaphat widens 
out into the valley of Hinnom, where the offal of this great city 
was burned in the olden times. 

Absalom's tomb is on the edge of the valley of Jehoshaphat. I 
think I should have recognized it from the pictures of it I have 
seen. 

BETHANY. 

Bethany and Bethphage of Christ's time are not what they 
were then. They now number but a few very ordinary houses, 
and all have an air of neglect. 

GETHSEMANE. 

I was disappointed in what is called the Garden of Gethsemane. 
It is a little inclosure near the base of Olivet, with six or seven 
old olive trees. Flowers are growing in profusion all inside of 
the iron inclosure. The dimensions of it by no means answer to 
the demands of Scripture. They tell us that He took His disciples 
into a garden, requested them to pray with Him, then taking the 
three, He went still farther, and leaving them, He went about a 
stone's-cast farther. Now, all this would require a space of a 
hundred yards or more; but this garden is hardly fifty feet across, 
either way. It may occupy part of the garden site, but not all 
of it. 



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165 



CHAPTER IX. 

Jericho — Fountain of Elisha — Dead Sea — Jordan — Solomon's Pools — 
Joppa — Cairo — The Citadel — The Nile — Pyramids — Sphinx — 
Memphis — Tombs of the Kings and Sacred Bulls — Mohammedan 
University — Heliopolis, or On — Alexandria — Pompey's Pillar — 
Naples — Museum — Image of Diana — Home. 

JERICHO. — FOUNTAIN OF ELISHA. 

We drove down to Jericho. We went down nearly the entire 
way. When we reached the site of Jericho we found it but a 
heap of ruins. There was not enough about it to enable us to 
call up that wonderful scene of its investment and fall. Near it 
is the Fountain of Elisha. We find that after the translation of 
Elijah, Elisha tarried at Jericho. "And the men of the city said 
unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of the city is 
pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the 
ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt 
therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto 
the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, 
Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not 
be from thence any more death or barren land." 

This is a very large fountain. A small river flows off from it, 
and we found the water very good. The people of the village 
below were using it for irrigating purposes. So if this were the 
spring healed, it is still in a healthy condition. 

DEAD SEA. 

We drove down to the Dead Sea. There was a strong breeze 
blowing, and, contrary to my expectation, waves of considerable 
size were breaking on the shore. The water was clear and beauti- 
ful. Across the sea we could see the ruins of the old prison 
Macherus, in which John the Baptist was beheaded. 

THE RIVER JORDAN. 

We visited the Jordan a few miles above the sea. The waters 
of the river, before reaching the Dead Sea, become very turbid, 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



and the current is very strong, especially beneath the surface, so 
much so that it is not safe to go into it. A few years ago, an old 
lady — a Methodist — concluded she must be immersed in the 
Jordan. She said she did not give up her Methodism, or forego 
her infant baptism, but it was just the whim of an old woman. 
A party, who was present, told me that it took four men to do 
it-. Two had to hold her from being swept down the stream, and 
the other two immersed her. Beyond the Jordan we could see 
Mount Nebo, where Moses viewed the promised land, and died. 

We made a special trip to Bethlehem. On the way we passed 
the tomb of Rachel. No doubt but the body of this beloved wife 
of Jacob lies beneath this pile. In all ages of Israel's history, it 
has been recognized, while the Scripture tells of her death and 
burial about this place. 

Here we met a funeral procession, bearing the body of a child 
to its last resting-place. The burial custom of this place is pecu- 
liar. When a child dies, a stranger to the family is selected to 
bear the body. This he does in his arms. There is no coffin. 
How the body was robed, I could not see; for a cloth was thrown 
over it. A number went before, and others followed the corpse, 
wailing in a most doleful voice. When they reach the cemetery, 
no grave is dug, but the body is laid on the surface of the ground 
and cement is piled round it till it reaches a little above the 
body, when sticks are laid across it, and the cement is then piled 
on until it reaches a height of two or three feet, and the top is 
sloped off on each side like the roof of a house. I saw hundreds 
of such graves in the cemetery where stands the tomb of Rachel. 
This is the burying-place for Bethlehem. And this is why the 
prophet, referring to the innocents slain by Herod, said, " In Rama 
was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great 
mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be 
comforted, because they are not." Here, hard-by the tomb of 
Rachel, — the mother of these Hebrews, — the disconsolate 
mothers of these children met to bewail their dead. I saw in the 
early morning, in a cemetery, thirty or forty women who had met 
to bewail their dead. 

Not far from Bethlehem — the home of David — is a little village 
on the mountain side, where Kish, the father of Saul, the first 
king of Israel, lived. So these first two kings of Israel were born 
near each other. 



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SOLOMON'S POOLS. 

Solomon's Pools, three in number, and of great size, were shown 
us. They are now without water, but a little energy and labor 
would put them in condition to hold water. But the people who 
now occupy and have control of this country seem to have no 
enterprise whatever, and they hinder or prevent those who 
would do something. 

The fields of Bethlehem are well fitted for the grazing of flocks 
and herds. Somewhere near the city, the angels appeared to the 
shepherds as they watched their flocks by night. 

No one can tell the house in which Jesus was born; and even 
if it ever were known, everything is so changed now by the 
churches built here and there, that Mary herself could not recog- 
nize it. 

Our interpreter, who lives in Jerusalem, invited all our party 
to dine at his home. His mother, and other children of the family, 
could not speak a word of English, and not one of us could speak 
a word of Arabic, so we had to depend upon her son to interpret 
for us. We got a good dinner, and spent a very pleasant evening. 

Many have thought that a railroad running into Jerusalem 
will take it from its ancient setting, and make a modern city of 
it; that it will be no longer the Jerusalem of the long ago, to 
which pilgrimages from all over the world are made. I do not 
share this feeling. I have seen enough of discomfort, ignorance, 
and squalor in the streets and houses of this old city, to welcome 
anything that will make a change for the better. What are old 
things, when they stand in the way progress or the happiness of 
the people? 

This road from Joppa has done one thing not commonly done 
by rail. It is carrying fresh water in car-loads into the city. 

The supply of water for Jerusalem is poorer and more limited 
than that in any city I ever saw. The supply is totally inade- 
quate to the wants of the people. A lady missionary told one of 
the members of our party that they would buy one jar of water 
a day, and that they had to husband every drop of it. 

Many of the children of the lower classes look as if they had 
hardly ever had their faces washed. Hardly a child is to be seen 
among them that has not some affection of the eyes. The lashes 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



were all mattered and matted together, and the lids were swollen 
and inflamed, owing largely, if not altogether, to the neglect of 
bathing their faces and their eyes. 

The railroad brings in a supply every day, and it is an inter- 
esting sight to see the place where they discharge it surrounded 
by men with goatskin bottles. Some of these skins will hold ten 
gallons, at least. They will fill them, sling them across their 
backs, and go throughout the city selling it. The soil and dust 
in and about the city is largely . impregnated with lime, that, 
when once upon the skin, almost defies the power of soap to 
thoroughly remove. Many families have cisterns, and in the 
rainy season they fill these, and in large measure are independent ; 
but the poorer classes are the ones that must suffer. 

JOPPA. 

We went from Jerusalem to Joppa, — Jaffa as it is now called, 
— passing over some historic ground. We had the birthplace of 
Samson pointed out to us. We passed through the valley of 
Sharon, in which we saw some very good land. Lydda, the place 
where Peter healed iEneas of the palsy, after having been afflicted 
with it for eight years, was on this road, "nigh to Joppa." When 
in Joppa, the house of Dorcas, whom Peter raised to life, was 
visited by us; also the house of Simon the tanner, with whom 
Peter was lodged when sent for to go to Csesarea to speak to 
Cornelius words whereby he and all his house were to be saved. 
This house is by the seaside, and we all went up upon the roof 
where Peter had his vision. It was not a very auspicious day for 
such a visit, for it was pouring down rain. But while upon the 
housetop, it held up, and we enjoyed that part of it. 

While at Joppa we saw our first banyan tree. I recognized it 
at once, though I had never seen one before. Though it was not 
an old one, yet the spreading branches had thrown down shoots 
that had taken roots in the earth, thus increasing the area and 
the supports of the parent tree. 

The storm that passed that day had raised the waves of the 
Mediterranean, and made the sea very rough. The steamer upon 
which we were to sail for Port Said, at the head of the Suez Canal, 
jay some distance out from the city, and we had to go out in a 



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small boat. The rough sea tossed our boat about in the most 
exciting and lively manner. When we reached the ship, the 
question was, how we were to get aboard, for neither ship nor 
boat was still for a moment. Sometimes we were away below the 
ship's ladder, and the next moment we would go shooting up 
above it. But our experienced boatmen were equal to the emer- 
gency. Two of them would lay hold of one of the party and wait 
till a wave lifted our boat up near the ladder, when they would 
pitch the one on hand up on the ladder, where two others would 
steady them and lead them up the side into the ship. When it 
came Brother and Sister Pepper's turn, — - each of them weighing 
over two hundred, — the men had to put forth all their powers, 
but they landed them safely. When I was tossed up 3 my Jewish 
friend, who was just behind me, said I landed all right, for I 
landed on my knees. Anyway, I got up all right. 

Mrs. Bates of Kansas City was the only one of our party who 
proved herself a true sailor. All the rest of us paid tribute to 
Neptune, and retired for the rest of the trip. We reached Port 
Said early the next morning, and took the train for Cairo. 

It is wonderful what the English are doing for this old land. 
The Mohammedans, with their fanaticism, superstitions, and 
opposition to change and progress, still nominally hold the coun- 
try, but England has quietly but firmly taken hold of the helm, 
and while others may do the rowing, she guides the affairs of the 
ship of state. The Khedive has his palace, his retinue of ser- 
vants, and his soldiers; but his authority is only tinsel. 

CAIRO. 

When we reached Cairo we found the city all a-flutter with 
flags and streamers, and a holiday look about the whole city. 
We found that the Khedive, or governor, was just on his return 
from a visit to Europe. We caught sight of him once or twice 
as he drove about the city. He was surrounded by a retinue of 
soldiers, and before him, on foot, ran two heralds, dressed in the 
most gaudy uniform, with staffs in their hands, shouting to clear 
the way before him. The horses in the Khedive's carriage were 
in a lively trot, and yet these heralds kept ahead of them. The 
crowds in the streets parted before these heralds, like waves before 
the prow of a ship. 



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My Trip to the Orient. 



Cairo is a much larger place than I expected to see, and it has 
all the spring and appearance of a modern city. The streets are 
wide and clean, while electric cars are found on very many of 
them. There are a great many fine stores and residences, while 
the great majority of the buildings are modern in their archi- 
tecture. 

- From childhood I had read of Egypt, the Nile, the Pyramids, 
and other wonders of this strange land, and I had ever longed 
for a visit to it. And now, in the evening of my life, after num- 
bering my threescore and fourteen, I had at last realized the 
dream of my childhood, and stood amid its palms and listened 
to the murmur of its world-renowned river. I could scarcely 
realize the fact, but as I looked up the Nile and saw the shadowy 
outlines of the Pyramids in the distance, I knew it was not a 
dream. 

Our first visit was to Old Cairo, and the Citadel that crowns the 
hill in the heart of the town. As we drove through the narrow, 
crooked streets and witnessed the squalor on every hand, we could 
appreciate what a change had come over the place in the birth 
of the new city. As we stood on the hill on which the Citadel is 
built, we had a fine view of the whole of Cairo, old and new. It 
was a lovely sight. But the great number of mosques and mina- 
rets that marked every quarter showed all was under the domin- 
ion of the Moslem power, and that it would take generations to 
break the spiritual power of this hoary superstition. 

THE CITADEL. 

As we stood at one point and looked over the walls some forty 
feet in height, an incident was related to us that took place in 
1806. Mehemet Ali, the founder of the present dynasty, was in 
possession of the Citadel. He sent out an invitation to all the 
Mameluke beys in the land to come to the Citadel. These 
Mamelukes had ruled Egypt for a long time. They were rich 
and they were powerful. On the day appointed, 480 came. They 
were decorated in all the insignia of their office. Their horses, 
of the best breed, were caparisoned with all the dazzling splendor 
of Oriental tinsel and ornament. No such pageant had ever 
before adorned the parade-grounds of the Citadel. When, all at 



My Trip to the Orient. 



171 



once, the great iron doors were closed, and a heavy discharge of 
musketry broke forth on all sides, and horse and rider went 
down together in a bloody death. The treacherous Mehemet 
Ali had ordered the indiscriminate slaughter of these helpless and 
entrapped men. One daring, desperate young Mameluke turned 
his horse's head to the wall; over the parapet he leapt to the 
ground, forty feet below. In the fall, his horse's legs were broken, 
but, strange to say, he was almost unhurt, and in the confusion 
he made good his escape. On the parapet is chiseled a horseshoe 
to mark the place where this desperate leap was made. 

After Mehemet Ali's death, his body was brought back and 
buried in the Citadel, where so many illustrious men of his line 
lay. 

We visited the sepulchers of a number of the Mamelukes. 

Not far from the Citadel is a mosque, built in 1346. It is built 
with dome and half-domes, after the style of so many others. Its 
minaret is the tallest in Cairo, being 290 feet high. Near it stands 
a half-finished mosque, commenced some years ago by the grand- 
mother of the present Khedive. In the midst of the work her 
Moslem architect died, and as she would suffer no "Christian 
dog" to have anything to do with it, it stands, as it has done for 
years, unfinished. 

THE NILE. 

We crossed the Nile to see Nilometer, the instrument by which 
the rise and fall of the Nile is measured. At certain seasons this 
instrument is watched with the greatest solicitude. The highest 
and lowest points of the Nile are marked by a difference of 
twenty-five feet. 

THE PYRAMIDS. 

We took carriages and drove out seven miles from Cairo to the 
great Pyramids. The road we took is one of the most lovely 
drives we have enjoyed. It is thrown up several feet above the 
flooded fields on each side, and a row of trees is planted on each 
side, that shades the whole way. This road is macadamized, and 
kept as level and smooth as a floor. It is also sprinkled. All 
the land on either side was under water, preparing for still 
another crop before the season is over. They flood the land 



172 



My Trip to the Orient. 



several inches deep, and let the water stand upon it for some 
weeks. It is planted as soon as possible after the water is drawn 
off, and I was told that a crop of corn (maize) would mature in 
six weeks after planting. 

I was surprised at the great quantity of corn that is planted 
all over the East. While passing through Palestine, we saw 
green corn in market, and said we should like a good mess of corn. 
These people know nothing of our mode of preparing corn. 
We told them to boil it on the cob. So at the conclusion of our 
meal here came the corn, fully matured, and hard, served as a 
dessert. Of course we had to compliment our provider and our 
cook by gnawing and eating a few grains. But it was hard work, 
in more ways than one. 

The soil of Egypt, though it has been under cultivation for over 
four thousand years, is as rich as anything you can conceive of. 
We drove for miles and miles over it, in various directions from 
Cairo, and it was the same everywhere. I am not surprised at 
the record made during the u seven plenteous years," that '' the 
earth brought forth by handfuls." It was capable of it then; it 
is capable of it now. Nothing is allowed to cumber the ground 
when it has accomplished its purpose. Even the cotton-stalks 
are carefully pulled up by the roots, packed in great bundles 
on camels, and borne away to burn as fuel. We frequently met 
great strings of camels loaded with cotton-stalks. Here, as well 
as in Palestine, fuel, especially for cooking purposes, is made of 
almost anything that grows. 

On the outer edge of the road to the Pyramids the English 
have constructed an electric tramway out to the Pyramids. So, 
even in this old country, with its fossilized customs, the Christian 
nations of earth are introducing conveniences and improvements. 

Before we reached the Pyramids, the Arab guides and helpers 
were trotting along by the side of our carriages, and in broken 
English were offering their services, and praising their virtues 
and powers as helpers. By some means they knew we were 
Americans, and they called over the names of the Americans 
whom they had helped up the Pyramids. From that time till 
we left, they were like our shadows, first helping, and from that 
time on crying for "backsheesh." 

Nearly all our party climbed to the top of old Cheops. I knew 



My Trip to the Orient. 



173 



I could do but one, so I chose to go inside and see where the 
kings and queens had been laid away when this work of forty 
centuries ago was built as their resting-place. Three Arabs of- 
fered to help me in and out. Two of them took me by the hands, 
while the other walked behind to "boost" me over the hard 
places. I entered on the north side, and went down an inclined 
opening of perhaps thirty-five or forty degrees. Down, down, I 
went, placing my feet in little indentations of this inclined floor, 
the Arab that went before me often placing his bare foot at the 
edge to keep mine from slipping. This opening, lined on all 
sides with marble, points directly to the north or polar star. So 
every night from its depths can be seen this noted star. This, 
with the fact that all the Pyramids are built with reference to 
the points of the compass, shows that those who planned them 
were scientific men. 

After going down for a great distance, we came to where a rock 
lay so low overhead, that I had to get down on my hands and 
knees to get through. Our way then led upward about as far 
as we had gone downward. At one point we reached a square 
hole that went down like a well. One of the Arabs took a candle 
and went down some twenty feet, and by the dim light of his 
candle he showed me the sarcophagus of a queen. Her em- 
balmed body has long since been taken from its resting-place to 
some museum. In this utilitarian, prying age, even the multi- 
plied millions of tons of rock, as in this Pyramid, cannot secure 
undisturbed repose to the bodies of the greatest of earth, or hide 
from the gaze of the curious the most sacred remains. The tombs 
of the kings were found higher up. 

After threading these strange and well-constructed chambers 
to our satisfaction, I turned my face to the entrance. When I 
reached it, then the three Arabs set up a plea for "backsheesh." 
After I had paid each one what I thought was right, then the fel- 
low that went down to show me the queen's sarcophagus wanted 
"backsheesh" for that. Then each of them pulled out some 
coins with verdegris on them, and they wanted to sell them to 
me, — " something to remember my Arabs by, who helped me in 
the Pyramid, when I got back to America"; and so appeal after 
appeal was made, until I broke away from all but one of them. 
He stuck to me. When I visited the Sphinx he persisted in 



174 



My Trip to the Orient. 



showing me all about it. He was positively annoying. At last 
I told him if he was after "backsheesh" he would get no more 
from me, and to clear out. I shook off one, only to make place 
for another. They would pick up pieces of stone and offer to sell 
them to me. At last I told the most persistent one to take it to 
the top of the Pyramid for me, and lay it up till I came next 
time. He was sharp enough to see the joke, and dropped his rock, 
and m}- acquaintance, at the same time. Another crossed my 
path at every turn, urging me to take a ride on his donkey. At 
last I said to him, " You take him and eat him." — "What ! " said 
he; " eat a donkey? " — " Yes; eat him all up. I don't want him." 
At this he broke out into a big laugh, and sought another cus- 
tomer. 

THE SPHINX. 

When I visited the Sphinx, I was disappointed at first. It did 
not look as large as I expected. But the two Pyramids in whose 
shadow it stands were so large that they dwarfed everything around 
them. The more I looked at the Sphinx, the more I admired its 
symmetry and proportions. It is indeed a wonderful piece of 
sculpture. Near it is the Temple of the Sphinx. For ages the 
sands of the Nubian Desert had covered it from sight and from the 
memory of man. Now a large portion of it has been uncovered. 
It is built upon the same large scale as the Sphinx and the Pyra- 
mids. I was struck with the great size of the stones laid up in 
the walls. Some were ten and twelve feet long and six in width. 
How thick they were, I had no means of ascertaining. 

The wealth, labor, and skill expended on these idolatrous tern-' 
pies ought to shame us, who claim to be worshipers of the one 
true God, who made heaven and earth and all things therein. 
Not that we are to rival them in the construction of temples, but 
in the expenditure of effort to spread the knowledge of the truth 
to the ends of the earth. 

We next visited the Museum at Cairo, containing some of the 
rarest treasures of the archaeologist to be found anywhere. The 
Pyramids and the graves of the great of bygone ages have been 
rifled of their mummied treasures. Nothing has been too sacred 
for sacrilegious hands. Kings with their golden crowns, queens 
with their ornaments of rubies, pearls, and other rare and costly 



My Trip to the Orient. 



175 



gems, have had their sarcophagi, sealed for ages, broken open, 
and bodies and ornaments rudely dragged to the light, taken 
away from their long rest, to be exposed to the gaze of people 
from every clime. 

A strange feeling passed over me as I looked down into the 
black and lifeless face of Rameses II, the Pharaoh who knew not 
Joseph, and who oppressed Israel and made them serve with 
rigor; who, to accomplish his mad purpose, " cast out their young 
children, to the intent that they might not live." It was his 
daughter who rescued Moses and brought him up as her own son. 
Doubtless he had often sat with the Hebrew child upon his knee, 
and taught him the ways of the Egyptians. Here I stood above 
his swathed and shriveled form, now powerless for harm. His 
name is remembered as an oppressor, while the boy rescued from 
death by his daughter had become one of the greatest, if not the 
greatest man of any age or people. 

Near Rameses II lay Seti, his father, and others of this illus- 
trious house. Long ago the scepter departed from this family, 
and not from this only, but, according to the prediction of Ezekiel, 
not another one of their own people has reigned, or shall ever 
reign in Egypt; "and there shall be no more a prince of the land 
of Egypt." 

MEMPHIS. 

We took a steam-launch and sailed up the Nile for some twenty- 
five miles, when we took donkeys and rode out to the site of 
Memphis, which, at one time, was one of the greatest cities of 
Egypt. To say that it is now in ruins would hardly be correct, 
for it is not, and as you ride amid the sand-dunes, unless told, 
you would never know that you were where once throbbed the 
arteries of a great city. 

Our ride of perhaps twenty miles was my first experience on a 
donkey. Each donkey had an Arab attachment. He kept up 
with his donkey, no matter what his speed. Each one had a 
name. Mine was called " McKinley," and he proved himself a good 
one, for he outstripped all the rest, and got first to our destina- 
tion. I was surprised to see with what ease the Arab kept up 
with him. All the while he kept up a running conversation, in 
broken English, with me. The first object of interest on the site 



176 



My Teip to the Orient. 



of old Memphis was a granite statue of Rameses II, forty-seven 
feet in height. It was lying on its back, with one of the legs 
broken off. With this exception, it is perfect. A masterly piece 
of workmanship it is. too. The features are perfect, and are very 
expressive. There was still another of the same king (for he was 
perhaps the mightiest monarch that ever reigned in Egypt. His 
'was a very long reign, extending over sixty years), but it was 
surrounded by the flood-waters of the Xile, and we could not 
reach it. 

TOMBS OF THE KINGS AND SACRED BULLS. 

We rode some miles farther, and reached the tomb of Mena, 
one of the kings. It was built of stone, and all the walls were 
literally covered with figures carved in the stone. The workman- 
ship was of a superior character. The surface of the figures was 
as smooth as if they had just been chiseled. Many of them were 
colored, the color as distinct and clear as if just laid on. I sup- 
pose the whole was a history of the king who had it built. There 
were thirty-one different rooms to this sepulcher. The walls 
were ten or twelve feet in height, and every foot of the surface 
was covered with this scenic writing. Some were battle-scenes, 
some hunting, some rural, some sacrificial. No two of them 
seemed to be alike. 

We next visited the Serapeum, or tombs of the sacred bulls. 
The bull was the principal idol of the Egyptians. When one 
died, he was embalmed and buried with great pomp, and the 
whole land went into mourning until another was found. He 
must be a red bull with a crescent in his forehead, and some re- 
semblance of a flying eagle on his back. When found, he was 
led in triumph to his temple, and the whole nation rejoiced. It 
has been only a few years since this sepulcher of the sacred bulls 
was found. There is an archway of stone eighteen hundred feet 
long, with twenty-four sarcophagi on each side. Each sarcopha- 
gus is made of solid granite, some red and others black granite, 
all polished in the highest style. They are all the same size, — 
thirteen feet long, eight feet wide, and twelve feet high. The 
lower part, or coffin proper, is of one solid piece of granite, while 
the lid is also of one piece, three feet thick. 

It is a strange fact that a people so scientific and learned as 



My Trip to the Orient. 



177 



the Egyptians, — a people who were thrown in contact, through 
the channels of commerce, with so many of the outside world, — 
a people visited by the learned from all lands, — should worship 
a bull from the common herd, especially when one and another 
of these should die as the cattle that graze upon the plains about 
them. But when any people turn from the true Light that 
" lighteth every man that cometh into the world," they "became 
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, 
. . . and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an im- 
age made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed 
beasts, and creeping things." 

It was in imitation of the Egyptians that the Israelites made 
a golden calf to worship while Moses was upon Mount Sinai. 

In this same neighborhood are the tombs of Thi. These are 
constructed very much after the order of those of Mena. The 
walls of the several rooms were all covered with figures, illustra- 
tive of the lives of those buried in them. 

The surface of the country in which these tombs are found is 
the most desolate and forbidding imaginable, — nothing but dry 
sand drifted into dunes, — but wherever excavations had been 
made, I was impressed with the great amount of broken pottery 
that strewed the sand in every direction, showing that this was 
evidently the site of a great and populous city for ages. And it 
is marvelous that such a city should be actually and completely 
wiped from the face of the earth. 

What little probability was there of its fulfillment when Eze- 
kiel, hundreds of years before Christ, when this and other great 
cities of Egypt were in their glory, told of their utter overthrow! 
Only one inspired of the Spirit of omniscience would have dared 
to make such a prediction. And yet this Jewish captive in Chal- 
dea, by the river Chebar, uttered it without a fear of its failure. 

MOHAMMEDAN UNIVERSITY. 

On one of our visits to Old Cairo we went to the great Moham- 
medan University, where were gathered twelve thousand students 
from all parts of the Mohammedan world. Until within a year 
or two, nothing was taught in this university but the Koran. 
Now a very little of arithmetic and geography is taught. When 



178 



My Trip to the Orient. 



we entered, the school was in full blast. There was not a seat or 
a desk in the whole immense building. There are five hundred 
professors engaged in the work of teaching. The twelve thousand 
pupils were seated about in groups of from fifty to one hundred, 
on the floor, each one with his face to the teacher, who sat flat 
down, as they, upon a little movable platform. They all sat as 
Dlose together on the floor as possible. Most of them had a few 
leaves of the Koran in their hands, and every one was repeating 
his lesson out loud, while the professor's voice could be heard 
above the din. They rattled right along, neither teacher nor 
pupil paying any attention to us or our presence. They all had 
a sing-song tone. Some of the little fellows — for there were boys 
not more than ten years old among them — had sheets of tin, 
upon which they were learning to make figures, and to write. 
Most of them, as they sung their lessons, swayed their bodies 
from side to side in a sort of rhythmic motion. This, I am 
informed, is the only school of importance in the whole 
Turkish Empire, while in Constantinople, the capital and the 
home of the Sultan, there are five foreign post-office depart- 
ments. I asked how it was, and was told that the Turks had no 
post-office department until about thirty-five years ago. Hardly 
anybody in the Turkish dominions could read, and fewer still 
could write, and they had no need of a post-office. There were 
so many foreigners in Constantinople, that each nation organized 
a department of its own. After a while the Turks organized one, 
but the foreigners found their own so convenient, that they re- 
fused to give them up. 

This Cairo school is dignified with the title of university, but 
few of either the twelve thousand pupils or the five hundred pro- 
fessors can write, or know anything of . the simplest rules of arith- 
metic, and less of geography. The English, who are trying, to 
crane Egypt up, have taken hold of the matter of education. 
Some few years ago they called upon these professors to take an 
examination, but few of them took it. Out of thirty-nine teachers 
who were examined in the very simplest characters in writing 
and arithmetic, only five satisfied the examiners in arithmetic, 
and not one in writing. And as it is here in Egypt, so is it all 
over the Sultan's dominions. Superstition, ignorance, and fanati- 
cism are the foundation-stones on which this government rests. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



179 



With them, the Koran is all they want. They have the same 
spirit that actuated Omar, who burned the Alexandrian Library, 
— one of the greatest collections of books that, up to that time, 
the world had ever seen. He said, "If this library is in accord- 
ance with the teachings of the Koran, there is no need for it; if 
contrary to the Koran, then it ought to be destroyed." The fires 
were kindled, and for seven days the holocaust went on. Under 
the hands of these ignorant fanatics, the choicest recorded litera- 
ture of the ages went up in smoke. Nor did they pause in their 
fiendish work until the last of this world-renowned collection was 
destroyed, and from that day the Koran has lain upon the nation, 
crushing out all that makes a people great, prosperous, and happy. 
For nearly one month have I been traveling through this vast 
empire, reaching from Constantinople, through Syria, Palestine, 
and Egypt, and I have seen nothing to admire in them as a 
people. 

HELIOPOLIS. 

While in Cairo, we drove out to the site of Heliopolis, or On of 
the Scriptures. The most ancient obelisk of Egypt alone marks 
the spot where once stood populous On, the capital of Egypt. 
This obelisk was chiseled of one stone, 2433 B. C. It is a mag- 
nificent monolith, every figure on its four sides remaining as dis- 
tinct as if just cut. 

Here the Pharaoh who had his twofold dream of the seven 
years of plenty and seven years of famine had his palace and his 
home. It was the daughter of the priest, or prince, of On that 
w r as given to Joseph when Pharaoh made him ruler over all 
Egypt. Here, in after years, Moses, as the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter, was educated, and fitted to be the teacher of God's 
people. 

It was once the seat of learning. Plato spent thirteen years 
here, increasing his fund of knowledge and wisdom. Here, Hero- 
dotus, the "Father of History," lived for a number of years, 
gathering material for his great work. 

While God communicates that to man which he cannot know 
of himself, yet he uses all that is in man for his purpose. It is 
said of Moses, "that he was learned in all the wisdom of the 
Egyptians." He had been brought up among the rulers and the 



180 



My Trip to the Orient. 



great men of the land, and was thus eminently fitted to be a 
leader and a law-giver. 

Where populous On once stood, there is now not a house, nor a 
vestige of ruins even, but the rich plain has been smoothed down 
and has been under cultivation for centuries. 

Not far from the obelisk, that alone marks the site of the great 
<;ity, we were shown a large sycamore tree, called the "Tree of 
the Virgin Mary." Under it, it is said, she rested when she came 
into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod, who sought her young 
child's life. I have no sort of confidence in any such traditions, 
and look upon the whole thing as a sort of idolatry. 

This sycamore is of the fig-bearing variety. Amos was a 
" gatherer of sycamore fruit." The figs grow in great clusters on 
the body of the large branches. They were not ripe at the time, 
but are said to be a very inferior fruit, eaten only by the poorer 
classes. 

While in Palestine I had the pleasure of seeing a carob tree, 
and the fruit. The fruit is a thick, dark-colored bean, and is the 
"husks that the swine did eat," spoken of in the parable of the 
prodigal son. And, while I think of it, I rode on horseback over 
much of Palestine and visited many places of Egypt, and I never 
saw a single hog. The "steep place" where the two thousand 
ran down into the Sea of Galilee was pointed out to me, but no 
swine did I see feeding on the hills. There may have been hogs 
there, but I did not see them. 

While in Cairo I heard a band playing, and looking out of my 
window, I saw a fine carriage preceded by the band. The driver 
of the carriage was more gorgeously dressed than any man I saw 
in Egypt. The predominant color of his dress was a deep red, 
covered in every available place with wide gold lace. On the 
rear of the carriage stood a footman, also dressed most elaborately 
in red and gold. On each side of the carriage walked a servant. 
The curtains of this carriage were closely drawn. It was followed 
by three other carriages, by each of which walked two footmen. 
I thought some royal person was passing. But when I made 
inquiry, I found that one of the leading men, who had three 
wives, had shown to those in authority that he was able to sup- 
port another wife, and this first carriage contained his bride of 
the fourth edition. The other carriages contained his other wives. 



My Trip to the Orient. 



181 



ALEXANDRIA. 

Our stay in Egypt was a most delightful one, and we enjoyed 
it greatly; but the time had come when we must turn our faces 
to our Western home. A run of a few hours by rail brought us 
to Alexandria. We stayed in this ancient city but a short time. 
During that time, however, we visited Pompey's Pillar, saw the 
site of the ancient Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, 
and had shown to us where the celebrated Alexandrian Library 
was burned. It was in Alexandria that the Septuagint version of 
the Old Testament was made,. — the version from which our 
Lord made his quotations. No doubt but that the translators 
came here to do their work because of the great library in 
this city. If this be so, it bespeaks the value of this great 
collection. Recorded facts and important information may have 
been lost in the destruction of this library. Questions that have 
for centuries puzzled the world may have been answered in 
some of these volumes; such as, how the great stones that com- 
pose the Pyramids, and how the immense columns with their 
architraves of ruined temples, were lifted to their places; how 
elastic and malleable glass were made; by what process the royal 
purple was manufactured; and many others. 

NAPLES. 

Taking a steamer at Alexandria, we sped on toward Naples. 
In passing the island of Sicily we had a tine view of Mount Etna. 
Neither flame nor smoke issued from the crater. A crown of 
snow lay on its brow. It was Sunday as we passed the Strait of 
Messina, between Sicily and the mainland, and just before we 
passed Scylla and Charybdis, one on the one side and the other 
on the other, we held service in the dining-room of the ship. 
When we reached Naples we visited the Museum. One object 
seen there deeply interested me. 

IMAGE OF DIANA. 

After the uproar raised at Ephesus by Demetrius, who accused 
Paul of not only endangering their craft, but also threatened the 



182 



My Trip to the Orient. 



very destruction "of the great goddess Diana," "whom all Asia 
and the world worshipeth," the town clerk, in appeasing the 
people, said, "Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that 
knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of 
the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from 
Jupiter?" Recently this identical image has been dug up from 
the ruins of the temple of Diana at Ephesus, and it is here in the 
Museum at Naples. This image I saw. It is made of white 
marble, and is as perfect as the day it was chiseled. Even the 
lions on her arms are unbroken. The face of the image is as 
beautiful as a woman's, the mural crown upon the head setting 
off the features. 

There were very many other things in this Museum worthy of 
note; but we cannot mention them now. 

November 21, 1901, we took ship for New York. Besides the 
first-class passengers, we had five hundred Italian emigrants in 
the steerage, and the captain told me there is an average of a 
ship-load every day going to New York. 

The second day out, a two-year-old babe died, and the next 
night, at four, a. m., the great ship stopped in mid-ocean, and the 
little body was committed to the deep. 

HOME. 

In four months and one day from the day I left San Francisco, 
God, in his good providence, brought me back again, having pre- 
served me amid the 20,776 miles of travel by land and by sea. 
For all of which I am devoutly thankful. 

Of all the lands I have seen, there are none to compare with 
America, and in America, none to compare with California. 

The day before we reached New York, one of our fellow-pas- 
sengers took from his pocket an envelope and wrote on it the 
following: — 

" I 've traveled about the whole world everywhere; 
From the isles of the south to the north polar bear ; 
I 've camped with the Arabs ; 
I 've dwelt with the Boers ; 

I 've slept in the tents of Morocco-bound Moors ; 
I 've lived with the Dago, the Greek, and the Turk, 
Too dirty to live, and too lazy to work ; 



My Trip to the Orient. 

I 've sized up the Russian, the Frenchman, the Jap 

But there 's only one land, after all, on the map. 

Low land, high land. 

Ocean, or river, or dry land, 

There 's no other equal to my land ; 

There 's only one country for me ; 

'T is a gem any nation might covet ; 

'Tis the land of my birth, and I love it, 

For the Stars and the Stripes float above it, — 

Hats off to the Land of the Free ! " 



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Wolves of the Sea— Poems— Herbert Bashford - - - - - 1 00 



Mtf 2 7 I 905 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2011 

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